


The Ties That Bind

by redsandman99



Category: Original Work
Genre: Attempted Murder, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, F/M, Family Drama, Incest, Love, Multi, Murder, Racist Language, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-24
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2017-12-30 08:24:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1016339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redsandman99/pseuds/redsandman99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Violence and hatred were the two things James and Annabelle had known their whole lives. James clings to the love that doesn't exist within their mother while Annabelle takes everything with quiet acceptance. But even once they try to put their dysfunctional family behind them they find that breaking away isn't nearly as easy as it should be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Another Night, Another Fight

 The screaming match coming from one 2701 Willow Ave pierced past the closed doors and brought the surrounding neighbors to their windows. They peered out in curiosity, looking to see if they could get a glimpse at the latest Lawson household brawl. The curtains were pulled shut, preventing most from being able to see anything. The house that sat across from the alley behind them could at least see the shadows going at each other. It was half past nine, earlier than the usual night time fights. The sheer volume of the screaming led to the belief that this one would go all through the night. Whispers between the surrounding families debated about calling the police to stop the domestic dispute before it got too out of hand. Nobody actually tried to do so though. Instead they finally moved away from the windows and went back to what they had been doing before. If they pretended it wasn't happening it would just go away--so they thought anyway.

 

Inside that large, rather run down looking house, James Lawson found himself once again trapped in the kitchen bearing witness to the latest round of his parents' fighting. He had only come down for a drink of water yet found himself getting trapped in the corner and watching the war rage on. Standing at nearly seven feet tall, he felt tinier than he did when he was three years old. At that age he had been crouched down at the same corner, watching the same yet technically different fight go on. His father and mother stood across from each other, each red faced from all the screaming. James hadn't caught on to what the fight was about yet and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. What he wanted was to find a way to slip out of the room and get back to the safety of his bedroom. The longer he stayed the more likely it was he would be dragged into the mess.

 

"How the FUCK could you be so stupid?" Caroline's shrill, almost nasally voice made James cringe. The tall, rail thin woman had both of her hands clenched so tightly it was a wonder the palms of her hands weren't bleeding. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail which served to make her sharp facial features even more severe looking. Cold green eyes were locked on to Joseph, who was waddling to the liquor cabinet. "Seriously! How on god's green earth can you be such a stupid fuck?"

 

"I'm taking care of it!" Joseph snapped. He opened the cabinet door and took out the bottle of black vodka. Thick, meaty hands reached back in and pulled out a shot glass to go along with it. "I don't need a lecture--"

 

"No. Just a swift kick in the fucking ass." Caroline unclenched her fists and slammed her hands down on the table. She caught sight of James out of the corner of her eye and turned her attention on to him. "Boy! You want to know what your pig of a father has done now?"

 

"He don't need to know nothing!" Joseph growled. Bushy brows furrowed and he jutted his lips out so they could actually be seen under his gray walrus moustache. "Ain't none of his business."

 

Neither Caroline or James listened to a word he said. "Your... _father_ \--" she spat the word out like it pained her to say it "decided the whores he brings to his room every night aren't enough anymore. He decided to try to get grabby with one of the uh...do I dare dignify the bitch's title with actress or can we be honest and say whore?"

 

"You always say whore any other time..." James ventured weakly. He shoved his hands into his pocket and took a glance at the door. It was so very close yet so far away.

 

"The WHORE decided to sue him and the company for sexual harassment." Caroline threw her head back and laughed. It wasn't her usual cold, humorless laugh. For once she actually found something to be genuinely funny. "Can you imagine? A porn company being sued for sexual harassment?"

 

James' lips twitched. He wasn't sure whether he was actually supposed to respond to that question. The story itself he could definitely believe. Likansuk Porn had a seedy reputation, even by porn industry standards. Joseph himself was the cause  for a lot of that. He built himself an empire for sure but spent a good chunk of his money sweeping his or his directors' messes up under the rug. Whether it was his penchant for drugging underage women, his affinity for prostitutes, the drugs that were distributed on set or the damages done to the women in his movies because the directors had free rein to change scenes against their wills or knowledge--and this was only the stuff James knew about personally. What else could be going on he didn't even want to know.

 

"She don't have a case." Joseph abandoned the shot glass he had gotten out in favor of drinking straight out of the bottle. "If she don't settle out of court we'll just shut her down. It's that simple."

 

"Oh is it?" Caroline shook her head. "All it takes is one bitch speaking up to open the flood gates. Every dirty little secret you've managed to cover up before will bite you in the ass." Smirking because he clearly knew she was right, she went up to the cabinet herself. She elbowed him out of the way and grabbed her bottle of scotch. "And some of them were no more than children...that's going to make you REAL popular in prison let me tell you."

 

SLAP! The sound of his open palm hitting her face echoed through the room. James groaned under his breath and tried to force himself to start slipping out of the room. It was only going to get uglier from there. But despite knowing this fact, he only took a couple of baby steps for his escape. He felt compelled to watch. It was like watching a train wreck. It was absolutely terrible yet he couldn't make himself look away.

 

Caroline took the blow without so much as a whimper of pain. Her head rocked to the side from it and she kept it there for a few moments, not moving until Joseph tried to grab her by the throat. Once he made that move she grabbed his wrist with her left hand while her right hand shot up, nailing him in the nose as hard as she could with her fist. Unlike her, he bellowed in pain from the blow. James saw the blood before Joseph could get a hand up to cover the surely broken appendage.

 

"DON'T--" Caroline poked a single bony finger into Joseph's chest "you fucking hit me again."

 

"You fucking bitch!" Joseph's voice was somewhat muffled from his hand covering his face. "You broke my nose! You broke my fucking nose!"

 

"And what are you going to do about it?" Caroline challenged.

 

"Mom please." James slowly approached the two of them and tried to pull Caroline back. "Don't--"

 

"Stay out of this!" Caroline whipped her head back and literally snarled at him. He jumped despite himself, barely dodging the backhand she tried to nail him with. The slight distraction gave Joseph enough time to strike again. This time he thrashed her down to the ground with a single swing of his arm.

 

"Hey!" Jumping over Caroline as she was already pushing herself back up to her feet, he grabbed Joseph by the shirt and shoved him against the wall as hard as he could. He moved one hand up to his father's throat and squeezed tightly. "Don't fucking touch her," he hissed, spit flying from his mouth and landing on the shorter man's face. Joseph tried to shove him away but James stay rooted to the spot. It was only until a hard blow to the head from a glass bottle that he moved. The glass didn't break but his grip did, his vision nearly going black as he stumbled and fell. He grabbed the back of his head, feeling the warm rush of blood cover his fingers. His gaze went up and saw that Caroline wasn't done swinging. She had the half full bottle of scotch upside down and was swinging it at Joseph, who at least had the chance to get his arms up to protect himself.

 

"Stop it!" Joseph bellowed. He tried to move out of the way but Caroline stayed right on his heels. "BITCH!" He managed to grab her wrist and twisted it hard. Caroline howled and ripped her head forwards, sinking her teeth into his cheek. A string of unintelligible curses left his mouth and he pushed her down, falling to the ground on top of her. James pushed himself up to a sitting position and watched them claw, scratch and punch each other like a couple of feral animals. Every fight disintegrated into something like this. James couldn't even begin to count the number of times he had witnessed it. He went to try to break them up again but he felt way too woozy to do much moving. He could really only sit and watch.

 

Despite Joseph's much more ample weight, Caroline fought her way free from underneath him. She reclaimed the bottle she had dropped when they hit the floor and started swinging once more. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

 

"It's MY--"

 

CLUNK! The bottle connected with his skull and he was almost knocked out like James. He managed to stay conscious long enough to push himself back up to his feet and bolt for the door. Caroline followed him out, leaving James alone to assume she was chasing him out the front door. It wouldn't be the first time. Maybe this time thought it would be for good. He could hope anyway.

 

Keeping one hand on the back of his hand, James got up and grabbed one of the dish rags sitting near the sink. He wrapped it around his blood covered hand and pressed it against the newest gash. He gently applied the pressure, increasing it slowly so he could stomach the pain.  He definitely needed stitches but would have to go without them. He had to hope he didn't have a concussion as well. There wasn't a lot of hope on that front. Caroline's blows were hard enough on their own and nearly deadly when she had a weapon in her hands. How he had a functioning brain after all the shots to the head she had given him was a miracle within itself.

 

He tried to shake off the nauseous feeling in his stomach as he went to the freezer to get some ice. On the way he grabbed a second dish rag and used it to wrap the ice up. He placed the new makeshift icepack on the back of his head and threw the original bloodied rag into the laundry hamper. His vision started to blur once again and he quickly sat at the table. He put his head down and let it rest against the smooth wood. The solid surface steadied him and helped the feeling of wanting to pass out slip away. Once he was sure he was going to make it, he slowly sat himself back up. Caroline was just returning to the room. The bottle was still unbroken in her hands and her steps had  a bit of a swagger to them. Victory had been hers for the night. Her right eye was already starting to swell shut and blood dripped freely down from the corner of her mouth. She stopped for a moment to give James a contemptuous look before going to the counter. Her trusty scotch was no longer a weapon. She drank it straight from the bottle, chugging it down like it was nothing more than water. James watched her go with wide eyes. Even with as used to it as he really was, her tolerance was at least something to be admired.

 

"What--" Caroline slammed the now empty bottle down on the counter and wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand "are you looking at?"

 

James inwardly cringed at being caught staring. "Are you okay?'

 

"Am I okay?" The question was repeated incredulously. "Am I okay?" A short chuckled escaped her thin lips. "Do I LOOK okay to you?" Getting geared up yet again she stormed over to James. "Tell me what YOU think!" She grabbed a handful of his medium length dark brown hair and yanked back on it hard. Her fingers twisted against the gash on his head and James felt his eyes involuntarily water. "Why don't you tell me what you think?"

 

James swallowed hard. He had to be extremely careful about how he answered this. She was just looking for an excuse to go after him now. "I was just asking..." He wanted to tell her to not get pissy about it but didn't dare do it. "You're bleeding." Time to try to change the subject. He raised a single finger and pointed to the blood that was still pouring from the corner of her mouth. "Right there you--"

 

SLAP! SLAP! Not only was his hand slapped down but she belted him right across the face for good measure. "You think I don't know I'm bleeding?" she growled. She tightened her grip on his hair and started digging her nails into his own bloody wound. "Do you think I'm stupid now or something?"

 

"I didn't say that!" He yanked himself out of her grip and nearly fell to the floor as he stumbled back. "Fucking hell. I fucking never said that at all." He put the ice pack back on his head and scowled. "You didn't have to hit me you know."

 

"You deserved it," she snapped. Back to the liquor cabinet she went so she could grab a new bottle of scotch.

 

"For what?" he asked. "I was trying to protect you!"

 

"Protect me?" She unscrewed the lid from the bottle and threw it across the room. "I don't need your protection. I don't need anyone's protection."

 

James looked down at his feet. It wasn't like she was wrong. Joseph would hit her sure and try to bully her but she had never really been a victim. She dished out as much abuse as she got. She always had. Still, James always tried to throw himself on the stake for her. He couldn't help it. She was his mother he had to do it.

 

"You really want to protect me?" Caroline's voice made James look back up. Her tone had taken a queer, faux sweet tone. He should have known right then and there she was up to something. "It's not your father I need help with. Him I can handle."

 

"Then who is it?" James witched the hand he was holding the ice pack with. He was really hoping the bleeding was going to stop on its own so he didn't have to try to glue the wound shut.

 

"Louise--"

 

"Grandma?" James frowned in confusion. "What about Grandma?"

 

Caroline's lips curled in disgust. "Joseph doesn't want her to rot in that nursing home anymore. He thinks she should spend her last days here."

 

"So? That fucking nursing home sucks."

 

"Who do you think that useless lout expects to take care of her?" Caroline used the bottle to point at herself.

 

James shook his head. "Annabelle and I could--"

 

"No. She's not coming in this house."

 

"So tell Joseph no."

 

"Since when has he ever listened? The only way to avoid this is if she dies--a process that needs to be expedited.'

 

James felt his stomach drop. "No way." He knew what Caroline was getting at now and wanted no part of it. "No fucking way don't even--"

 

"Louise needs to die," Caroline said bluntly. "I want her dead."

 

"So YOU do it."

 

"I told you to do it. You'll do it because I said so."

 

"No." He shook his head vehemently. He didn't want to do it. He wouldn't do it. His grandmother was the only member of his family besides his sister Annabelle to not treat him like a piece of trash. Before his grandfather's death they had both lived with them for nearly two years. His grandpa had been a violent alcoholic much like his parents and his poor grandma had endured the abuse for over fifty years. Caroline and Joseph had done nothing but make it worse for her. She had been no better than a slave yet actually took the time to try to take care of him, Annabelle and their brother Jacob. Their grandpa's death had resulted in her getting put in a nursing home which had been the best thing for her. It had gotten her out of Caroline's clutches, which was something he had never known himself.

 

"No?" Caroline smirked. "You really think you can tell me no?" Her tongue darted over her bottom lip and she leaned in with a sneer. "The bitch will die whether she actually gets in this house or not. But if you let her get here you know what will happen to you?" Her eyes narrowed and before he realized it she was literally dragging him across the room. "If you let that happen you want to know where you'll end up?" She threw open the basement door and pointed down into the pitch black room. "You'll rot down there with the bitch, just like your brother. You understand me?"

 

James hung his head and nodded in defeated. Caroline did a lot of things but bluffing was not one of them.  The basement was practically a dungeon. Cold, wet from a leaky pipe nobody bothered to fix, windowless and a door that once locked needed a key to open from the outside again...it was the perfect prison. Theyd didn't even bother to store anything down there. Everything of worth was thrown up into the attic, leaving Caroline with her blackmail pit of despair. Once she threw someone in there, there was no telling when she would let them back out--or if she even would. Jacob had found out the hard way there was no guarantee of getting out alive.

 

"Good." Caroline let him go and for a moment he thought that was the end of it. But before he could run upstairs, another blow caught him right on the back of his head. Two hands pushed him on the back and down the cement stairs he fell. He tried to stop himself but the momentum was too much. He just kept going and only stopped when he reached the bottom. His head took another hit, this time from the floor, and what Caroline yelled down at him was lost as his world went to black.

 

 


	2. Safe Haven

James spent the night and most of the next day unconscious and locked down in the basement. The first time he woke up was to the sound of yelling outside the door but he couldn’t maintain consciousness long enough to figure out who it was. The next time he woke up, he found himself laying on his friend Mark’s bed with  Mark himself and Annabelle standing over him. Mark was hissing something under his breath while Annabelle's soft, fair face looked towards the ground as she stood and hugged herself. James' loud groan of pain interrupted their conversation and Annabelle quickly sat down on the bed with him. "James! Are you alright?"

"Ugh..." That was the only response James could really give. He tried to sit up but his world spun so much that he quickly had to lay back down.

Mark just shook his head and ran a hand through his recently dyed black hair. "You gotta stop letting her beat the fuck out of you like this." He snagged a half empty tube of super glue off the bedside dresser and waved it in James' face. "Or we're not even gonna be able to put you back together with this." He shoved the tube in his pocket before crouching down beside the bed. "We still should fucking take you to the hospital."

"No." James wanted to shake his head to go along with his vehement denial but he didn't dare risk it. "No."

"You have a fucking concussion you need--"

"She'll find out." James put an arm over his eyes to block the light. He hated the light it was only making his head hurt worse.

"Oh jesus fuck Lawson..." Even though James couldn't see him, he knew Mark was shaking his head in disgust.

"She'll kill him if he does," Annabelle said in his defense. She placed her hands over his arm and tried to get him to lower them back down. "You know that."

Mark only muttered something incomprehensible under his breath in response. The issue was dropped though. James resisted taking his arm off his eyes for a few more minutes before finally caving in. He looked up at Annabelle, just noticing the black eye she hadn't been sporting the last time he had seen her. "Mom got you too?"

She nodded.

"Before or after you got me out?"

"Before. She passed out drunk a few hours later and then I stole the keys from her."

"Oh."

"What did she hit you with?"

"Bottle."

"Why?"

"Why?" Mark repeated that question incredulously. "Does that psycho bitch NEED an actual fucking reason?" He shook his head. "Don't be so fuckin stupid Belle."

"Leave her alone," James grumbled. He forced himself to sit up now, not caring how bad it made him want to puke. He wasn't in the mood to talk about what happened to him or listen to Mark try to start a fight with Annabelle. "Where's Al?" Al was Mark's father, who absolutely despised James. Technically James wasn't even allowed to be there in the house.

"Work. Shithead is gone too." He clarified his younger brother Tom's status before even being asked. Tom and James really didn't get along either. "We have the house to ourselves. For now anyway."

"For now?" The question came from both James and Annabelle at the same time, which made Mark jump.

"What the fuck have I told you two about that shit?"

James and Annabelle exchanged looks. He smirked and she giggled nervously. "It's creepy," they both recited at the same time.

"Yes it is so stop--"

"But it's so much fun Mark."

"Stop it now you can't--"

"Come play with us Mark. Forever and ever and ever..."

"God DAMN you two!" Mark had to literally clench his fists to keep himself from throttling the both of them. "You know what? Fuck you. Fuck the both of you."

"Aw relax Marky." James stood up, waving Annabelle's attempts to help him off. He stumbled over to Mark and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him in for a hug. "You don't gotta get all mad."

"Fuck off Lawson." Mark shoved him away rather hard.  "Fuck you for thinking that's funny. Mother fucker."

James nearly fell but managed to catch himself at the last second. "Jesus Mark you don't have to be so--" his voice was cut off by the sound of pounding on the door. "Who's that?"

"Nobody," Mark snapped. "It's nobody."

"You haven't even checked though..." Annabelle pointed out.

"I said it was nobody!" Mark shot her an angry glare. The way his watery brown eyes began to shit around though told a different story. “You two just stay up here. I’ll be right back.” He turned on his heel and stormed out, causing Annabelle and James to exchange strange looks.

“What was that about?”

James answered with a shrug. He grabbed the cord to pull open the blinds to the window and peeked out to see who was at the door. Much to his displeasure, bald, husky figure that was Gino Ortiz was standing on the front porch. “Mother fucker…”

“What?” Annabelle stood up and came over to the window. “Who is it?” She slipped in front of James  so she could see as well. "Who is that?"

"Gino. Drug dealer."

Hazel eyes that matched his own widened as she spun around to face him. "A drug dealer? Since when does Mark do drugs?"

"Mark doesn't DO drugs. Mark DEALS drugs."

The correction didn't wipe the wide eyed look off her face. "Since when?"

"Since he got stupider than usual and Gino started taking advantage of it."

"Is um...is Gino dangerous?"

"He wishes. It's brother Hector you have to watch out for." James stepped away from the window and headed to the door. There was no way he was just going to heed Mark's order and stay put. He wasn't much good at listening to begin with but now if he had to see what kind of trouble his friend was getting into it would really be no use. It wasn't shit he wanted to deal with though on what could be considered the bright side, the only slightly severe headache he had was the only side effect of the bashing his head took from Caroline. If he wasn't concussed to the point of vomiting like he had been before he generally considered his well being a success.

"James!" Annabelle hesitated for a moment before running after him.  "James wait!"

Her plea went ignored. He crept through the hall and down the stairs, stopping halfway so he could listen in on Mark and Gino talking without being seen.

"This cut in pay is bullshit," Mark growled. Baggies of drugs laid on the coffee table next to them but it seemed like he had at least one in his hand. James couldn't tell for sure since Mark had his back to the staircase. "I'm the one doing all the work here."

"You're doing all the work?" Gino snorted at that. "You're not the one cooking this stuff--"

"Neither are you," Mark snapped. "Hector cooks. Hector controls the territory. I don't know what it is YOU do exactly that makes you so god damn high and mighty."

"I deal with punks like you that don't know your place." Gino poked a single finger on Mark's chest. He leaned in right in Mark's face, his lips curling into a sneer. "Your cut stays the same. If you got such a problem with it you can take it with Hector but his version of negotiation is...well let's just say he only lets it go in his favor. You hear me?"

Even though James couldn't see his face he knew Mark was scowling. He scowled along with him and went down the rest of the stairs. Gino was already turning his back to leave which let James close the distance between them with ease. He shoved Mark out of the way in the process and the knife that he always kept on him came out from his pocket. Annabelle screamed and Mark hollered as James caught Gino in a bearhug and placed the sharp blade directly against the shorter boy's throat.

"I think we need to reopen the discussion of Mark's payment," he hissed. He squeezed Gino so tightly he couldn't take in a breath. "I mean, I really don't think whatever set up he has with you and your uh  _amigos_ now is too sweet of a deal."

"LAWSON!" Mark tried to grab James and pull him off but James only picked Gino up and stepped out of the way.

"Careful Marky. The blade might slip." He pressed the knife down even harder, drawing just a little bit of blood. Gino whimpered, his entire body going rigid in fear. James grinned, almost laughing as he rested his chin on his captive's shoulder.

"Like I was saying, I think need to reopen this whole discussion about Mark and his money. You see, he's a poor kid. He's not like me where I can risk my neck and steal from my own parents. His daddy isn't exactly swimming in money and while drug dealing isn't exactly what I call a SMART way to go about doing it he still deserves his fair share. In fact, I think he deserves YOUR share. I may not know a lot about your brother's little organization but I do remember you always being a little fucking lazy shit for brains." His eyes wandered down and saw that Gino's shoes were the velcro type. "Look at you! You can't even be trusted to tie your own fucking shoes!" He shook his head and tsked. "You don't deserve whatever money you're taking in with all this. I think Mark should get it in addition to whatever he's taking in now. I think that's a fair trade, don't you?" He slowly dragged the knife just a half inch across Gino's throat, breaking open more skin. Blood trickled down his neck and on to the collar of his shirt. Annabelle watched the scene with wide eyes while Mark had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Y-yes." Gino didn't exactly have a choice but to agree. One wrong word and he was a goner. He was at least smart enough to know that James wasn't one to bluff.

"Good boy." James let him go, booting him in the ass so hard he fell and scraped his face against the carpet. Gino scrambled to his feet and ran out the door, making James laugh loudly. The moment the door slammed shut though Mark was the one on the attack. He grabbed a handful of James' shaggy hair and placed the other around his throat. James was taken by such surprise he let himself be shoved back violently against the wall, narrowly keeping the back of his head getting smashed against the hard surface.

"Mark!" Annabelle almost started to run down the stairs to interfere but ended up staying where she was.

"How fucking stupid are you?" Mark snarled. The hand he had around James' neck tightened and he grabbed his wrist as well so James couldn't even think about using his knife to get free. "God fucking damn it Lawson!" His face was turning so red it was starting to resemble a tomato. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"

"Got your money!" James tried to pry Mark's hand off his throat so he could breathe.

"Forget the fucking money! You just fucking got us all killed you fucking doofus! You think he's someone to fuck with?"

"He's a fucking pussy. He won't do shit."

"HE won't but his fucking brother--"

"FUCK that mother fucker!" Annoyed now, James nailed Mark in the gut so he could get free. Stepping away from the wall, he shoved his knife back in his pocket and rubbed his wrist gingerly. “Hector ain’t fucking shit either. I’m not fucking scared of either of those fuckers."

"Just because you're not scared of them doesn't mean they won't kill your stupid ass." He slapped James upside the head, either forgetting or not caring about his injury. "Or what about Belle?" He shot a thumb back over to the still frozen Annabelle. "You think they wouldn't stoop to hurting her to teach you a lesson."

"Let them try." James pressed a hand to Mark's chest and shoved him away. "Just let them fucking try."

Mark shook his head. The look on his face was a mix of exasperation and disgust. "I think Caroline knocked the last bit of sense out of your head." He ran a hand over his face and let out a half hearted little chuckle. "Not that you HAD much to begin with."

"Sense is for losers." He played along good naturedly but James was more than a little ticked at Mark now taking shots at his intelligence. He already took that from Caroline and Joseph every day. He didn't need it from his best friend as well. He held himself back from starting a real fight. He was too tired, his head hurt too much and with only one real friend anyway it wasn't worth it.

Mark shook his head again. "Stupid fuck." He slapped James not so nicely on the shoulder and took a glance at the clock. "Come on." He reluctantly motioned for Annabelle to come along as well. "Let's go for a ride."

"What if I don't wanna ride?" James asked.

"Dude, Pa's gonna be home soon. You really want to deal with him?"

"Weeelll...."

"Don't. Just don't." Mark snagged his keys off from the top of the entertainment center. "Let's just go."


	3. Out of Place

With her legs practically pulled up on to the seat with the rest of her, Annabelle winced as she tried her best to force herself to feel comfortable despite her position. Being in the middle seat of Mark's truck wasn't exactly her idea of a good time but it was the only place for her to sit. Mark refused to let anyone else drive and James' legs were much too long for him to fit where she was. So she kept her mouth shut and munched on the french fries she had leftover from McDonalds. Mark had bought them all some food and was now just driving around aimlessly. She was assuming he was going to drop them off before doing whatever drug dealing things he had to do. Part of her wanted to ask and make sure. It wasn't anything she wanted to be a part of. The question wouldn't leave her though. Talking to Mark was one of the more difficult things for her to do. He didn't like her and didn't exactly make it a secret. Why he didn't like her she couldn't exactly say. From the moment he met her though, he had just despised her. She kept her mouth shut about it though. He was James' friend there was nothing she could do about it anyway. He was going to be around in one form or another. If she could co-exist with him without a fight that would be enough.

"What's with this country shit Mark?" James grumbled. Parted bangs fell towards his eyes and most of his McDonalds was untouched. It was strange given that he usually couldn't stop eating. At first she had thought his stomach may have just been too upset for him to eat. She knew hers always was whenever Caroline got too many head shots in. But as they kept driving around, the more withdrawn and sullen he seemed. Something else was the matter with him.

"I'm in the mood for country," Mark replied. He shot James an annoyed look. "Why else would I have it on?"

"It sucks."

"Well when you get a car you can not have it on then."

James' lip curled and he slumped down in his seat. Annabelle frowned. Her twin wasn't exactly known for giving up on a fight that easily. On any normal day he annoyed Mark until he got his way. Something was definitely on his mind. She looked to Mark to see if he was picking up on it. The other boy though either wasn't or he was and just wasn't showing any sign of caring. She personally thought it was the latter which made her all the more annoyed. Mark always did shit like this. He would ignore things that were wrong with James until there was no choice but to acknowledge them. She didn't know whether it was a general boy thing or he was just an extra big prick. She looked back at James who was still sulking. "Are you okay?" she finally asked. She couldn't just keep sitting there. It was driving her too crazy.

James blinked at the question. "What?"

"Lawson are you pouting about the damn radio?"

"No damn it!" James visibly got annoyed at Mark's question. "Nothing is the matter okay? Just leave me alone."

It was clear he was lying but Annabelle reluctantly dropped the subject for the time being. The rest of the ride was silent with the exception of the radio, which was not only on a country station but a depressing one on top of it. Mark pulling into the high school parking lot was actually a relief, though neither Annabelle or James were particularly thrilled with the crowd they were clearly meeting up with. Mark's basketball team buddies were among them along with Matilda Christensen, the head cheerleader whom Mark had started dating about a month ago. They had gone to school with her their entire lives but only recently had Matilda even acknowledged their existence. How Mark had won her over Annabelle didn't know and she was fairly certain she didn't want to find out. It was hard enough not to roll her eyes as the thin blonde bounced over to Mark as soon as he got out of the truck.

"Oh christ not this shit again..." James gagged as they watched Matilda and Mark start to kiss.

"What does she see in him?" Annabelle felt like she had asked that question five million times now. She really did want an answer. She knew Mark's interest laid in what was under the navy blue mini skirt that the blonde was rocking. Mark though, wasn't exactly the clean cut super attractive type she typically went for.

James shrugged. "Fuck if I know. Fuck if I even care." He set his McDonalds bag down on the floor and eyed the steering wheel. "On a scale of one to ten, how mad would he get if I hot wire this thing and get us out of here."

"Ummm....Mom levels of mad?"

James froze and Annabelle immediately cringed. She was stupid for bringing Caroline up now. She knew very well how sensitive he could get after one of Caroline's rampages. Despite getting completely terrorized by her, he deeply loved her. "I'm s--"

"ShewantsmetokillGrandma." The words were out of his mouth so fast she didn't understand a single word he said.

"W-What?"

"Grandma. Mom wants her dead. She wants ME to..." his voice trailed off and he shook his head. "I have to kill Grandma."

The silence that followed that statement was uncomfortable, to say the least. Annabelle stared at him with a dropped jaw, unable to comprehend what he had just told her. She almost asked if he was joking but she knew by the look in his eyes that he wasn't. "W-w-why?" she finally managed to stammer out.

"She says Joseph wants to bring her home again. She don't want her though and told me I have to take care of it." James pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

"James you can't--"

"I TOLD her that Belle!" His head whipped to the side to look at her, his hazel eyes blazing. "I fucking told her that. I told her no but it's gonna be ME if I don't!" He swallowed hard. "Next time you won't be able to get me out of that basement if I don't do this." He shook his head fearfully. "I'm not gonna end up like Jacob. I don't wanna die like that. Not like some animal trapped and left to starve."

"James..." Annabelle didn't even know where to start. "You...can't kill her. That's WRONG James you can't do this you--"

"What do you expect me to do then?" James snapped. Angrily he grabbed her wrists and yanked her hands apart. She had started wringing them together without even noticing. "Huh?" He got right in her face, making her recoil in fear. "What's your brilliant alternative?"

Annabelle wanted to suggest hide their grandmother. Take her away somehow and hide her where Caroline would never find her. She couldn't muster the courage to say the words though. She wilted and went completely limp in his grip. Her lack of response made him grunt and he let her go. He rested his head back in his seat and closed his eyes, taking several harsh deep breaths. She hugged herself tightly and just stared at him, waiting to see what he would say or do next. It was fairly certain the others outside were staring at them but neither paid them much mind.

"I just...I mean, Grandma's really old. You know? I mean Mom said Grandma would be just living out her last days with us anyway. It's not like she's got much living to do anyway."

Annabelle didn't respond. She didn't know what to even say to that. James was looking for justification to make this easier on himself but she couldn't help give that to him. There was nothing she could say either way. Nothing she said ever mattered anyway. James only tended to listen when it benefited  him while their parents had no interest in what she had to say. So why bother to say anything?

James waited a moment longer to see if she would actually say something. When she didn't, he shook his head and got out of the truck. He walked around to the front and hopped up on to the hood, not acknowledging the few who bothered to say anything to him. He left the truck door open for her to follow him out if she wanted. She licked her lips nervously and slowly made her way out of the vehicle as well. Her eyes immediately dropped down to the ground. The group at large wasn't really paying attention to her but it still felt like they were. Her chest tightened and her stomach went into the all too familiar knots. She hated these people. Being in this environment literally made her sick. Almost everyone in the school hated her and James. They mocked the spectacle Joseph and Caroline often made out of themselves and the family, made fun of them for their ratty clothes...they were technically rich for all intents and purposes but some of the kids that lived in actual trailer parks dressed better than they did. James was popular with the girls at least for his looks though the guys thought he was a freak. His size and his willingness to kick the snot about anyone though, saved him from any real teasing and bullying. She wasn't quite as lucky.

"Hi Annabelle." Right on cue, Matilda's friends greeted her. The one that spoke was Matilda's best friend Leigh. Brenda and Nina flanked her on either side. The blonde trio lingered near Mark's truck, keeping their bodies pointed to an uncaring James while their heads were turned to Annabelle. Makeup was caked to their face, to the point it was ridiculous. Then again, they were knee deep in boys chasing after them so what did she know? The one time she even put a bit of lipstick on Caroline had slapped it off her. It wasn't exactly her area of expertise.

"Hi." Her greeting in return was barely audible. She shoved her hands into her pocket and looked to James in hopes that he would say or do something to bring the attention off her. He wasn't so much as looking at her though. He had pulled his one leg up on to the truck with him and was playing with a flap that had formed on the bottom of his shoe. Mark was still wrapped up in Matilda while the other boys were talking about whatever. She was stuck.

"How are you doing?" Leigh was still the one talking. Her nasal voice had taken a faux niceness to it. It made it all the much harder to take.

Annabelle only managed a shrug of her shoulders. Nina giggled though Brenda and Leigh were quick to silence her. "We saw you talking David yesterday." Now Brenda was taking control of the conversation. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing," Annabelle replied quickly. "It was nothing." It really had been nothing. David Bennet, the captain of the football team had bumped into her in the hall and had knocked all the stuff out of her hands. In a rare moment, he had actually helped her pick them up and had tried to strike up a conversation with her. That had weirded her out more than anything. Despite having several classes with him over the past few years, she hadn't even thought he knew her name.

"Nothing?" Nina's lightly toned eyebrows rose. "You two were looking pretty cozy to us."

Annabelle shook her head. "No. It was nothing." She looked to James for help again though despite the mildly interested look he was giving her, he didn't seem ready to do anything.

"Well that's good," Brenda said. "Because Leigh here was planning on going to the homecoming dance with him and--"

"Why would you want to go with that meathead?" Now James was suddenly interested in speaking up. He pushed himself up off the truck and slid his thumbs through the belt loops of his pants.

"Well have you SEEN him?" Leigh countered. "Those muscles--"

"Steroids," James said immediately.

"No way," Leigh denied.

"He works out," Brenda added.

"He works out where to stick the needle in his ass and that's about it," James maintained. He stepped up to the blonde trio, his eyes set firmly on Leigh. "He looks like a caveman anyway. You're better than that."

"Am I?" Leigh ran her tongue over her bottom lip and tilted her head so she could look up at him. She shifted her weight to her left foot and stuck out her chest not so subtlety. Brenda and Nina still lingered near them, each other them trying to find a way to catch James' attention as well. Annabelle took the opportunity to take several steps away though curiosity made her stay close enough to watch the scene unfold. She knew very well James didn't actually like any of these girls. He called them all sorts of nasty names behind their back...in fact she was fairly certain he had called them nasty names to their faces before. Yet  here they all were, carrying on. She didn't get it.

"Mhm." He leaned down so he and Leigh would be more eye level with each other. A smirk had formed over his lips.

"Then who should I go with?"

"Well...there's me."

"You?" Leigh did sound genuinely surprised. "You're going?"

"If I have the right date." James motioned between the two of him. "What do you say?"

"Matilda says Mark's taking her to dinner first."

"Well then we'll double date. Stick Mark with the bill."

"Fuck you Lawson!" Mark finally tore his attention away from Matilda to yell that. "I ain't paying for shit!"

"Okay Marky Mark! Whatever you say!" James winked at Leigh and made her giggle. Brenda and Nina both exchanged looks before leaving those two and going back over to Annabelle. Annabelle almost found herself bolting but before she could actually move they were on her. Nina trapped her on the left while Brenda got her on the right. "I guess everybody has a date now but you," Brenda said. She wasn't doing a good job of hiding her smugness.

"We could help you out though." With a smug look of her own, Nina pointed over to the school's doors. Emerging from them was the chess club, who was just leaving from one of their meeting. She was pointing to a particularly gangly, pimply faced boy that was leading that group. "I think he would be the perfect match for you!"

Brenda nodded in agreement. "He's smart--"

"But still dumb and desperate enough to settle for you," Nina finished. They laughed in unison and Annabelle just stood there, her head dropped until they walked away. Once they were gone she simply walked away herself, leaving the entire group behind. Nobody would miss her for awhile and even James and Mark did they would know where she went. Home was the only place she really could go. By now Caroline was surely awake and probably had realized James had been free from the basement. Two and two would be put together and she was surely in big trouble once she walked in the front door.

BEEP BEEP! The sudden blast of a car horn sent her jumping nearly a foot in the air. She whirled around to find her father's Mercedes Benz was behind her. His fat, meaty head poked out from the lowered window and he was motioning for her to come towards him. "Dad?"

"Where's your brother? he asked gruffly.

She played dumb and shrugged. Having James and Joseph anywhere near each other was a combustible element. One that she tried to avoid fueling at any cost.

Joseph cursed under his breath at her answer. "Never mind then." He motioned for her to come over. "Get in."

"It's okay. I can walk..."

"Just get in the god damn car!" Joseph growled. "Nobody in this fucking house listens god fucking damn it don't you even start this shit now..."

"Sorry sorry sorry..." Annabelle ran around to the other side of the car and got in. She barely had the door closed before he hit the gas as hard as he could. She got her seatbelt on as fast as she could and directed her gaze towards the window. She expected him to drive towards home but she was surprised when he made a left turn at the end of the block instead of continuing on straight ahead. "W-w-where are we going?"

"To see my lawyer. I wanna see about using you as a character witness for this sexual harassment suit."

She frowned in confusion. "But I wasn't even there to see..."

"That's why I said CHARACTER witness you twit." He shot her an irritated glare. "You're supposed to tell people I wouldn't do a thing like that. YOu understand?"

She nodded. It would be one big lie but unlike James she wasn't stepping up to dispute it. She didn't want to but she also didn't want to fight. She would already have Caroline to deal with she didn't want to add Joseph to the list.

"Good girl." A smile actually crossed Joseph's face. "That's my good girl." He reached over and patted her on the leg. "We could get something to eat after this. My treat."

"Okay." For a brief moment she actually almost smiled at him. But in the lingering beat he kept his hand on her leg he gave it a squeeze made her breath catch in her throat. His fingers pressed especially hard against the inner part of her thigh. The moment she stiffened he let go and eyed her up and down. "why don' you ever wear nice clothes?"

"...I don't have any?" She didn't mean for the reply to come out as a question but it did anyway. It was so obvious that she was genuinely surprised why he was even asking.

"Your mother doesn't buy you guys--" He didn't even have to finish that question. Of course, he had long refused to put out any money for his own children so he was as much to blame as Caroline was. "You know what?" His hand moved to her hair, brushing it away from her face. That touch wasn't anymore wanted than the first one and once again she jerked herself out of his grip. For a moment she thought he would hit her for it but instead he moved his arm back. "We'll buy you a whole new wardrobe. Something more fitting for a girl your age."

"What about the lawyer?"

"Him first and then the mall. And then you need to talk to that brother of yours about vouching for me too."

"I don't think he w--"

"Find a way to make him then. You understand?"

Annabelle sighed. There was no way she would ever get James to do anything he didn't want to do. She wasn't Caroline she didn't have that power over him. But she nodded in compliance anyway. It would be easier to try and fail and let Joseph and James argue over the matter later than actively disagree herself.

"Good. That's my girl."


	4. Quality Time

About a half hour after he noticed Annabelle had ditched him, James found himself snatching Mark's wallet and stealing a wad of cash out of it while he was making out with Matilda before taking off himself. Leigh and her little friends tried to get him to go somewhere with them but he had dodged that bullet. Despite his earlier flirting, he had no real interest in any of them. Not unless he was going to get to bang all three of them but that clearly hadn't been in the cards. So instead he was now off to find more food. The McDonalds in the truck was cold and it didn't sound very appetizing. Where he actually wanted to go now he didn't know. He mulled the choices over for a bit as he wandered aimlessly before settling for the closest place--which from where he ended up wandering was the deli inside the Save-A-Lot grocery store. The parking lot of the place was packed, much more so than usual. James narrowly avoided stepping on a kid who thought it was funny to run away from his screaming mother and slid passed the old ladies who thought standing in the middle of the entryway to carry on their conversations. The deli counter was on the left hand side, between the bakery and the restrooms. It appeared to be about the only part of the store that wasn't completely packed, which at least allowed him to buy a bucket of fried chicken and a bottle of Mountain Dew without too much trouble. Once he had his stuff he left the store again and walked across the street to the park. He sat down at the table nearest to the lone tree in the entire place. A stray brown dog perked up at the sight of him and walked over to beg for food. Without thinking twice he took out too legs, ripping all the meat off of one and spit it out on the ground so the animal could eat without having to eat the bone. He devoured the other leg himself, throwing both bones back into the bucket before grabbing two more pieces.

"Did I raise you in a fucking barn? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

James nearly choked as he turned to face Caroline. She had snuck up on him without even him realizing it. His first thought was to run for it. There was no way she was happy that he was out and about. But out of the corner of his eye he could see a couple of cops nearby and he relaxed a bit. There was nothing she could do to him while they were around. He was safer staying put. "What are you doing here?"

She simply held up the plain brown bag in her hand. "What do you think?" She peered around to the dog, her lip curling in disgust. "Why are you feeding that thing?"

"He's hungry." James reached down and patted the dog on the head. The dog tilted his head back and licked James' hand. "I don't think he's ate in forever."

"That thing is going to think it can follow you home if you keep feeding it." Caroline walked around to the other side of the table and sat down. "If you think for a minute that thing is coming in my house--"

"So he can end up dead?" James didn't try to hide the contempt in his voice. "I'm not that fucking stupid." He tore up more meat for the dog and fed it to him. "All I've ever really wanted was a puppy--"

"I've listened to your whiny ass for seventeen years. Believe me, that's not ALL you want."

"It would be nice though..." James reached down and actually pulled the dog up on to the seat with him. "Look at him." He hugged the animal, not caring that he smelled rather bad. "He's adorable."

Caroline just snorted. "The only good dog is a dead dog."

James sighed. That was what she always said. The dog, seeming to sense the malicious intent coming his way from across the table, jumped down and wandered off to bother a child eating an ice cream cone. James' disappointment made Caroline smirk though that soon ended as she turned her attention to the next thing that was bothering her.

"What have I told you about eating nigger food?"

James, who had been about to take a drink of his Mountain Dew, froze. "What?"

"Nigger food!" A long bony finger pointed to the bucket of chicken. "That's nigger food!"

"It's just chicken!" James glanced around to see if there happened to be any black people around. The last thing they needed was for Caroline's overt racism to be heard.

"Fried chicken...niggers eat that shit."

"I thought fried chicken was only that if there was watermelon involved."

"Don't argue with me."

"But you were the one--" James sighed as Caroline glared at him. "I gotta eat something." Might as well try to steer the conversation away from something that could get them shot. "I'm starving over here."

"So you steal a bunch of chicken?"

"I didn't steal the chicken...just Mark's money."

"Oh right." Caroline reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out a toothpick. "Mark." She put the end of the toothpick in her mouth and leaned forward slightly. "Where is that fucker anyway?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Around."

"He ditched you for the bitch didn't he?"

"I ditched him actually."

"Sure you did." Caroline put her purse on the table and unzipped it. "And this bottle is full of water." She pulled out a water bottle that obviously had vodka in it instead. Covert public drinking was something she had mastered a long time ago. "The little slut might as well keep him busy. I want Louise taken care of tonight."

Those seven words instantly made James lose what was left of his appetite. He dropped the chicken breast he had grabbed to eat next and swallowed hard. "Mom come on. You can't make--"

"This still isn't a discussion," Caroline snapped. Cold eyes narrowed. "I thought I taught you that well enough last night. Or do I have to beat it through your head again?"

James reluctantly shook his head. That was the last thing he needed to have happen.

"That's what I thought." She leaned over the table so she could get right in his face. "I don't care how you do it but it's getting done tonight."

"Tonight?" James hadn't planned on it having to be done so soon. He had hoped to put it off, maybe even giving his grandmother time to die of natural causes. It wasn't like he felt good about this. Giving in didn't mean he liked this. It was what Caroline wanted though. And beyond doing it to be able to keep his own head, it would please her. Maybe just for a moment, when it was done, he could get some sort of approval out of her. It was sick and twisted for sure but he couldn't remember a single moment she had ever even

looked at him without pure disdain in her eyes. She hadn't looked at any of her children that way. Annabelle had long given up trying to get it out of her but James couldn't. He wished that he could. He really did. He hated his father and wanted nothing to do with him. Hell, part of him did hate Caroline for everything she had ever done to him yet for some reason he still loved her and wanted at least something back in return. He couldn't rationally explain why he hung on to the hope or foolishly made himself believe it could happen only to be proven wrong over and over. Maybe he really was as dumb as she said he was.

"Tonight." Caroline's confirmation brought James out of his thoughts. "I don't care how and I don't care when you go. I just want it done by the time I get up in the morning. You understand?"

James nodded.

"Say it."

"I understand." James' appetite truly was gone now. He pushed the bucket of chicken towards Caroline, a silent gesture for her to take at least one of the remaining pieces.

"Don't push that at me." Caroline shoved it back at him so violently she almost knocked it over. "What in the hell makes you think I'll eat that garbage?"

"When was the last time you even ate?" he asked.

She just waved the question off without giving him an actual answer. Up to her feet she went and she started to walk away. James watched her go for a moment before grabbing his stuff and following her. He tossed the chicken bucket into the trash but kept the soda. His long legs came in handy as he used bigger strides to catch up with her and get into the car before she could just leave. She rolled her eyes as he closed the door but at least didn't make him leave. She just whipped out of the parking space she was in with barely a glance back, almost hitting a person trying to get out of the lot as well. "Fucking christ Mom!"

"Not my fault," was the reply he got.

He shook his head and braced herself as she sped out on to the road. She drove like a complete maniac. It was terrible. Joseph absolutely refused to go anywhere with her if she was at the wheel and it was the one thing James could actually agree with his father on. He tried to make himself relax by finding something on the radio but she slapped his hand.

"Don't fuck with that," she growled. She pressed play on her CD player, which held a Johnny Cash CD that had been in there since she had gotten the vehicle. "You know better."

"Don't you ever listen to anything else?" It wasn't that James necessarily minded the choice though he wasn't always in the car listening to it about five million times over.

"If you got a problem you can jump out right now."

"I never said I had a problem." James scooted over in his seat as much as he could to try to be out of her hitting range. "You don't have to be so sensitive you know."

"Me? Sensitive?" A dry chuckle escaped her lips. "Don't make me push you out of this car." It wasn't actually a joke but James chose to take it as one. They sat in silence the rest of the way home, the music giving them a not quite as tense atmosphere to sit in. When they pulled into the driveway they found Joseph's car there already. Caroline scowled as she turned the ignition off. "I kicked him out," she muttered under her breath.

"Mom you know he don't ever stay out." James wasn't the least bit surprised to find that Joseph already returned to the house. It had been the same old song and dance for years. His parents would fight, Caroline would throw Joseph out and he would stay out for as little as a night or as long as two weeks. Inevitably though, he would return and the process would start all over again. "Why don't you just divorce him?" he asked yet again. He had lost count a long time ago how many times he had brought this question up. Yet he had never truly received a straight answer. "You guys are miserable together. You have your own money you don't need him--"

Caroline's response was to just get out of the car and storm towards the house. James sighed and followed her, making sure to keep some distance between the two of them in case she completely erupted. When they got inside they found Joseph sitting in the living room, a beer in one hand and the TV remote in the other. "You guys are just in time," he said in what James swore was actually a jolly tone. That stopped both James and Caroline in their tracks. He was actually happy to see them? That never happened. Immediately James figured something was up.

"How drunk are you?" was Caroline's question. She put her hands on her hips and looked at him in exasperation.

Joseph shook his head. "Not drunk. Not drunk at all actually." He held up his beer. "This is only my first."

"Well then what's put you in this mood?" Caroline tilted her head to the side ever so slightly.

"This." He craned his neck back towards the staircase. "Belle! Come down and show them what you have on!" He looked back at James and Caroline as they frowned in confusion. "I picked up Belle earlier and took her to the mall. Did some shopping, got her hair done--the lady in Macy's even did her makeup."

James and Caroline exchanged looks but they had no chance to question him further. Footsteps made them look to the stairs and there came Annabelle, her face bright red as she took what was clearly a highly uncomfortable walk of shame. Joseph had dressed her in a spaghetti strap black leather tank top with a sweetheart neckline and padded cups to make her breasts appear twice the size they actually were. A black leather skirt and black heels completed the outfit. Her hair had been curled and her makeup at least had been well done, though some of the effect was ruined by how red her fae was. James just stared at her completely flabbergasted. This was so far from how his sister normally looked that he could hardly believe it was even her.

"What do you think?" Joseph actually looked quite pleased with himself.

Caroline smacked a palm to her forehead. "You...you just.." she was actually almost at a loss for words "you HAVE to be kidding me right now."

"What?" Joseph blinked in surprise. "What's the matter?"

"What's the matter?" Caroline dropped her hand away from her face to glare at him. "You tarted up your own daughter and made her look like a two dollar hooker and you ask me what's the matter?"

"I did not tart her up!" Joseph denied. "She's been dressing like a homeless person I fixed that problem!"

"You did too tart her up!" Caroline set her recently bought bottle of scotch down so she could take out her vodka filled water bottle and chuck it at him. "Look at her!" She stormed over to the stairs, grabbing Annabelle by the wrist and yanking her the rest of the way down. Annabelle almost fell directly on to her face but managed to grab on to the railing and save herself. "Look at her!" She waved the hand that wasn't still holding Annabelle's wrist in front of her chest. "She's over twice my god damn chest size on a normal day and now they fucking look like she's stuffing god damn watermelons in her shirt." She touched the top and threw up her hand in exasperation. "It's not even real leather!" She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You say you didn't tart her up like a two dollar hooker but you couldn't even buy her real leather? Cheap! Cheap ass mother fucker!"

"You can't even see the difference!" Joseph said defensively.

"CHEAP!" Caroline shrieked. She let go of Annabelle's wrist and motioned for her to get back upstairs. "Change into something decent and wipe that damn paint off your face. You look like a damn clown."

"Yes ma'am." Annabelle turned and ran back up the stairs, tripping over her own feet and having to catch herself before she did a full on face plant. James watched her go and then looked back at Caroline and Joseph. Joseph looked completely disgruntled while Caroline looked at him in complete disdain.

"All I did was buy her clothes." Joseph was still totally on the defense with the display they had just witnessed. "Not all the outfits are like that one--"

"Sure they aren't." Caroline's voice oozed sarcasm.

"They're not!" Joseph, for some reason, turned to James for some sort of support.

"Don't look at me dude." James leaned against the wall and eyed his father like a bug that he had squashed beneath his shoe. "You're the one making your daughter look like a hooker here."

"See? Even shit for brains over here can see it!" That was actually a bit of a compliment. As close to one anyone would ever get out of her anyway. "Why do you want your daughter dressed as a hooker? Huh? Do you want to fuck your daughter like you fuck every other skank in the city?"

"Stop it," Joseph growled. He got up out of his seat and pointed his finger at her angrily. "You're being ridiculous."

In all seriousness, Caroline's accusation wasn't that ridiculous. Not to James and what he knew of his father's sexual history (which was more than he ever cared to know). It was a fight though, he decided to leave to the both of them. He slipped past Caroline and went upstairs, going straight to his room. He locked the door behind him before crashing down on the bed. He laid on his side and stared at his plain white wall, resting his arm under his head even though he had two pillows at his disposal. It was after he had laid down that he wished that he had put some music on. He didn't feel motivated to get back up though, so he continued laying in silence. With the silence though, came time to think about what he had to do tonight. He wasn't even completely sure how he would come about it. He couldn't just walk in and then leave, pretending as if his grandmother had passed of natural causes. If he was seen there and anything was found to be out of place there would be questions. This wasn't like the case of his grandfather where nobody missed him after he died. His grandmother was well liked within the walls of her nursing home. He'd have to think of something that would be quiet, that would still be quick...and not make him want to vomit at the mere thought of it.

Groaning and silently cursing Caroline for putting him in this position, he rolled over on to his other side. He closed his eyes in hopes that maybe he could get some sleep. Maybe he wasn't supposed to sleep with his head injury but he really didn't care. If he didn't ever wake up again it wasn't like he was going to be missed. He wouldn't be missed by anyone other than Annabelle and even she would move on. They would all move on and he would be so much better off. For the first time, he would truly know peace.


	5. Reluctant Murder

_James crept down the hallway slowly, his lips pressed firmly together in a thin line as he inhaled shallow breaths through his nose. He held his dad's hammer tightly in his right hand, the weapon lowered to his side as he walked. His father was was at work while his mother had very reluctantly taken his sister to the dentist for an appointment she was eight months overdue for. That didn't mean he was alone in the house though. His grandparents were home with him. His grandmother was in the kitchen trying to prepare dinner for everyone to eat later. His grandfather was sleeping on the couch with the TV blaring The Price is Right on full blast. The old bastard had worn himself out by fighting like a mad dog with Caroline and terrorizing his own wife and Annabelle just because he could. It was a constant thing with him and James couldn't take it anymore. Augustus wasn't the same as Joseph. His father, while an ass in his own right, was more of a blowhard than anything. A bully who his mother could easily handle and his sister and grandmother could easily avoid. His grandfather was another story entirely. He was actually a cruel, vindictive man that James couldn't stomach living with. None of them besides from Joseph could stomach him. He had to be taken care of._

_Augustus didn't even stir as James entered the living room. The television was almost deafening now that he was standing right by it. He forced himself to ignore it though. Instead he stood in front of the couch, tilting his head to the side as the old man laying before him continued to snore. He just stood there, waiting to see if his grandfather would sense his presence and wake up. The seconds dragged by like minutes but still he didn't move. James raised the hammer high as his grandmother stepped into the room. She cried out his name, told him to stop but he didn't. He swung the hammer down, the weapon striking Augustus right between the eyes. His grandmother screamed but James barely heard her. He raised the hammer back up before bringing it down again. He beat the face to a bloody pulp, actually enjoying the way his grandfather's body twitched and convulsed with every blow. Blood spattered with every blow, spraying his face and shirt. It wasn't until Augustus finally went completely still and limp that he finally stopped bringing the hammer down. Taking several deep breaths, he stepped away from the couch and let the bloodied hammer drop down to the floor. He looked to his grandmother, hoping to see appreciation or even just relief in her eyes. However, he only saw fear and maybe a hint of revulsion as well._

_“Grandma--”_

_A high pitched shriek from upstairs made them both jump out of their skin. James was the one to run up the stairs. The fact that nobody else was supposed to be home with them went completely forgotten. In fact, what he had just done went completely forgotten. As soon as his feet touched the first step time moved backwards, reducing him to a mere three year old following the sounds of his mother’s screams. The sound of her carrying on scared him to death. It wasn’t like the screams she did when she was yelling at him or anyone else. It almost sounded like she was in pain. As far as he knew though his dad was at work still so he had no idea who could have been hurting her so bad._

_“Mommy?” He reached the top of the stairs and started walking down the long stretch of hallway that led to her room. She and Joseph didn't sleep in the same room and he was too young to understand that wasn't the norm for parents. His dad's room was next to his sister's while his mother's was all the way down at the end next to the second bathroom, one that was exclusively hers. The door was shut but he was tall enough to reach the knob without even having to get on his toes. It wasn't locked like it usually was. "Mommy?" He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. The lights were on but the drapes were so tightly pulled over the windows that it almost negated the electricity even being used. Caroline was laying on the bed, a bottle of scotch tipped over on the mattress and its contents spilling all over the place. Her pants were missing and her legs were spread, the sheets between them stained with blood. A straightened out wire hanger that was also covered in blood laid beside her. Her shirt was drenched in sweat, as was her face. Her skin had gone pale and her breathing was labored and shallow. Her eyes were almost completely closed. She hadn't noticed he had even come in yet._

_"Mommy!" He ran to her side, hopping up on the bed with her. "Mommy!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and began to shake her. "Mommy Mommy Mommy!"_

_Caroline groaned and tried to swat his hands away. "Mommy!" He stubbornly grabbed her again and resumed his shaking. "Mommy!"_

_"Stop it..." Caroline cracked her eyes open to give him a scathing look. Her hand reached over and grabbed the comforter, pushing it up between her legs to stop the bleeding. "The fuck you want?"_

_"You got a boo boo." A very obvious statement but it was the only thing he could even think to say._

_The obvious nature of the statement actually threw Caroline for a loop. Maybe the fact that she was so out of it helped with that but she just stared at him for a long moment before her lips twitched into a smirk. "You can say that..."_

_"Do you want me to get you a band aid?" James looked back and forth between her and the wire hanger that she had moved her hand over. He was at a total loss as to what she did or why but he knew that band aids were the universal boo boo solver. The bleeding ones anyway._

_"No." Caroline's hand closed around the hanger and her cold eyes met his. "You know what you uh...can do for me?"_

_"What?"_

_"...Die." Moving faster than anyone in her state had a right to, she grabbed a hold of his head and attempted to slash the sharp weapon right across his throat. The moment the metal touched his flesh and he felt the blood began to pour, he screamed in fright. He jerked himself back violently, ripping himself right off the bed. He started to fall...and fall...falling and falling he couldn't stop falling..._

 

James shot up in his bed so fast his face nearly collided with his slightly bent up knees. Hands went to his throat, grasping the scar on his throat that still remained to that day. There was blood there once again, only this time it was from where he had clawed and scratched it raw in his sleep. He gasped for breath, his mind torn between trying to tell himself he did not still feel the wire tearing into his throat and actually still feeling it and trying to rip it away. His heart was beating so hard and fast that he could feel it in both his ears. Fear was winning out. The wire was still in his neck. Caroline was still trying to kill him. Completely freaking, he threw himself off the bed and scrambled to the corner near his bookshelf. He threw himself against the wall and banged his head  against the wall repeatedly. He wasn't really aware that he was  doing it at first. It wasn't until he hit himself one too many times and started seeing stars that he got a bearing on his surroundings. He was just in his room. He wasn't getting nearly killed by his own mother. He let out a shaky sigh of relief and wiped the blood he had drawn on himself away. It took longer to get the beating of his heart back under control. He had to repeatedly take long, slow breaths, closing his eyes to try to focus on solely them. Once he finally got his heart beat down he stood up. The clock by his bed told him it was nearly ten. He had slept not long enough yet too long at the same time. He was surprised Caroline hadn't come barreling in to make sure he had left yet. He supposed he needed to get moving before she did just that.

He stripped off his sweat soaked t-shirt and tossed it into the corner of the room he kept all his dirty clothes until laundry day. He walked over to his closet and blindly reached in, pulling out a black Rolling Stones t-shirt. He slipped it on and made sure his knife was still in his pocket. He wouldn't dare use it in this situation but he just always liked having it unless something else popped up. He made sure to grab the extra set of keys to Joseph's car that his father still didn't realize he had even after three years. His grandmother's nursing home was all the way up in Summerlin. That was over a thirty minute drive when traffic wasn't shit. There was no way in hell he was going to walk that. It would take all night.

Stopping only to grab a pair of gloves at the last moment, James opened his window and climbed out, dropping down once he had a hold of the ledge. The drop exposed him to the kitchen window, which of course was the room his father was in. Joseph's bulky frame though had his back turned to the window, his face buried deep into the refrigerator. James quickly ran around to the driveway and got into the car. He started it right up and tore out of the driveway so he could be completely out of sight by the time Joseph came to the door (assuming he was paying enough attention to hear the car leave). Once he turned the corner he started fiddling with the radio, finding a rock station that he could gladly settle for. He tapped his fingers along with the song, lightly singing under his breath. It had been so long since he had made the last trip up there that he had to stop and think a couple of times about where he had to turn. One time he turned the wrong way completely and had to do a turn around in a gas station parking lot just so he could get back on track.

Once he actually got to Summerlin he parked the car in a twenty four hour convenience store. If there was one thing he had learned from his various other crime exploits was that while a getaway car being nearby was good for some reasons, a speeding car tearing out of a scene was going to get a lot more attention than someone pretending to be out for a late jog as they vacated the scene. A Dunkin Donuts also happened to be near the nursing home so there would be way too many cops around to risk speeding and getting stopped. He locked the car up and started to jog, doing his best to look as casual as possible. Six blocks down and then one across so he could make sure to get around the back of the nursing home. Shady Hills was the finest nursing home in Las Vegas though it wasn’t one for mega tight security. It didn’t really need to be. It wasn’t in a neighborhood full of crime, despite what the presence of a police gathering hold did to say otherwise.  Every resident in the home came from a family who had money. They didn’t even attract trouble through the families unless one counted Caroline. Or him, as now the case was.

His grandmother’s room was on the first floor and about halfway down the hall from the nurse’s station. She always opened her window after she was put to bed, even though she had been told repeatedly not to do so. The place had air conditioning it wasn’t like she needed a breeze. It did however give James a perfect opening to slip inside without being seen or heard. His foot narrowly missed the table of glass trinkets she kept around and he took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief as he realized he narrowly avoided disaster. He glanced around the room, noticing that the door was tightly shut and besides from the table of trinkets the room was sparsely decorated. A small TV was hoisted up on to the wall and the bedside table held a digital clock and a plastic cup full of water. She laid fast asleep in her bed, her long white hair resting neatly on each shoulder. The moonlight shown in through the window, illuminating her wrinkled skin. As he walked closer to the bed he could hear her wheezing with every breath she took in. James stopped once he was in front of the bed and just stared down at her. He knew he needed to get a move on but he couldn't stop himself from staring. In the time he had been given to think about all this before this moment, he hadn't actually thought about how he was going to do this. He had argued, pleaded and let himself get bullied but never for a second had he actually planned this out. Now he was just standing there like a big idiot, just waiting to get caught. He looked to the door, half expecting a nurse to walk in and catch him. Nobody appeared though. He let out a short breath and looked back down--and nearly jumped out of his own skin. His grandmother’s eyes were open and she was looking up at him.

“James?” Her voice was no louder than a whisper yet it still cracked with hoarseness.

“Hi Nana.” He forced himself to crack a small smile.

“You got…” she stopped and coughed a bit “so big.” She reached up and tried to grab his hand. Somehow she completely missed it though, despite the fact he had held out his hand for her to take anyway. "Too thin." Watery brown eyes narrowed. "Is she feeding you?"

"Yeah. Mom keeps plenty of food in the house." Such a bad lie and if she was in any halfway decent shape Louise would know it too. James kept himself rolling with it though, taking her hand and pulling up the nearest chair so he could sit down.

"Still too thin." Louise coughed again and James had to hand her a tissue so she could spit into it. "A growing boy like you needs so much more." Her eyes drifted to the clock. "What are you doing here so late child?"

He shrugged. "Can't I come see my favorite grandma?"

"I'm your only grandma."

"So at least you will always win by default." He forced himself to grin, winning her over with some charm. She couldn't muster the energy to laugh but she did smile.

"That's too bad...Jacob was my favorite grandson."

"Don't lie Nana. If Jesus himself actually existed he would have hated him."

"Jesus loves all of us. Always remember that."

"If Jesus loved you so much he wouldn't have let you get stuck with Grandpa."

Louise swallowed hard. "Your grandfather was not as vile as--"

"He killed your parents. He kidnapped you and brainwashed you and turned you into a brood mare. He was evil and you're still defending him?"

"Do you not defend your mother still?"

"That's different. She's my mother what am I supposed to do?"

"Honoring her is no different than how I honored your grandfather. Combating evil with evil acts in return does nothing."

James had a feeling this was a dig on him smashing his grandfather's face in with that hammer and he didn't like it. "That's a bunch of shit. He was a fucking asshole that fucked your life up and it wasn't some fucking test from Jesus or Buddha or Santa Clause. There's no higher being up there that gives a rat's ass what happens to any of us. Some people suck and some don't. That's it. That's the fucking story of life which sucks in itself but that is a whole fucking can of worms."

"James..." Actually tearing up Louise reached up and cupped his face with one of her hands. "You're too young to be so angry and bitter." Her eyes were clearly struggling to stay open but she was making the best effort possible. "What happened to you? You used to be so sweet."

He didn't dignify that with a response. He knew that they both actually knew what it was that had given him this viewpoint. It wasn't anything he wanted to get into. It wouldn't change anything and the whole Jesus thing she had just pulled soured him on talking. Caroline and Joseph were vehement atheists so he saw no point whatsoever in any religion.

She accepted his silence with a sigh. He continued to hold her hand as they stayed in it, him sitting and counting down the minutes in his head while she laid there trying to stay awake. It wasn't a fight she was able to win for long. Soon her eyes drifted shut and James reluctantly dropped her hand. He slowly sipped on his gloves. There was a part of himself that told him to just drop the plan and go. It was a part that was quickly overruled. One of his hands went over her eyes so she couldn't look and the other dropped over her mouth and nose. He pressed down as hard as he could, turning his head away and shutting his eyes tightly. Her hand shot up and grabbed his wrist. She tried to move his hand but he kept his grip strong. Her hand eventually dropped and after a couple of extra moments to be safe he forced himself to let go of her and open his eyes. Dead eyes stared up at him and the tell tale rise and fall of her chest was gone. Her mouth was slightly open and those eyes just kept staring through him. They begged the question as to why and he quickly turned away, stumbling back towards the window. He practically leaped out and began to run as fast as he could. All pretense of passing off as a casual jogger were lost. He just needed to get as far away from those eyes as fast as possible.

...

The drive back took nearly twice as long since he stopped twice to throw up on the side of the road. The second time barely anything came out, leaving him heaving until it literally felt like his stomach was up inside his throat. Once he finally got himself back together he finished the trip home. He expected Joseph to meet him at the front door to confront him about taking the car but that didn’t happen. Joseph was nowhere to be seen as he came in. He did hear the sound of the television going so he tip toed into the living room to see who it was. It turned out to be Caroline, who was holding a beer in her right hand and the television remote in the other. She didn’t even turn as he crept in and sat down on the couch with her. For whatever reason, she had chosen to stop on MTV. It was a channel that drove her absolutely crazy why she would stop on it was beyond him. But there she was, eyes narrowed and her thin lips curled in disgust. James turned his full attention to the screen to see just what was bothering her. The mezzo-soprano voice belonged to one Mindy Stratus, the blonde Canadian teen sensation that had recently hit the scene. It was a name James had been starting to hear more and more lately. Her pop rock sound was radio friendly enough to get her air play on all the popular stations yet actually cool enough to where if was embarrassing to like if one wasn’t a teenaged girl. It helped that she could actually sing and was gorgeous to boot. Her blonde hair was extremely long, nearly down to her ass. She was a tiny thing, said to not even be five feet tall. An extremely large chest was all but fully revealed in the skimpy black outfit she was wearing for the video. Implants were highly likely but James didn’t find himself caring one little bit. A close up shot revealed piercing blue eyes, complimented with smokey eye shadow and black eye liner.

“Look at this.” Caroline finally decided to address his presence. “Fucking plastic fucking Barbie doll.”

“She’s beautiful.” Despite knowing it was clearly a rhetorical statement that his opinion wasn’t wanted for, he gave his reply anyway.

“She’s WHAT?” Caroline actually leaned over and knocked on his head like it was a door. “What exactly are you seeing that I’m not.” She tilted her head to the side. “Are you drunker than I am?”

“You think everyone is ugly how are you a fair judge?”

“Because I’m not blinded by a dick unlike you.” Not satisfied with the head tilting she sat herself back up normally. “You could find girls like her in any of your father’s videos. Hell, we could drive around town right now and see at least a dozen hookers that fit her description. Would you call them beautiful?”

“She’s not a beat up old hooker Mom fucking hell…” James shot her a look that would be regretted later before refocusing totally on the TV. Mindy’s eyes were the focus again, the big blue orbs going right through the screen. The sound of her voice was enchanting though fuck if he knew what song she was actually singing.  He’d figure it out later.

“Give her a few years,” Caroline snipped. “She’ll get there.” Much to his disappointment she resumed her usual channel flipping. She could sit there for hours doing that, not ever deciding on anything to watch. “Louise dead?”

He bowed his head and nodded.

“What was that?” She shut off the television and turned her attention fully towards him. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“Yes.” Gritting his teeth he turned to look back at her. “Are you happy now?”

The answer he got to that was a grunt. A god damn grunt. After what she had him do all she could do was grunt at him? He stared at her in disbelief though it was lost on her. Or (and this was more likely) she just didn't care. She blackmailed him into the situation and now she couldn't even pretend to give him anything in return. "Are you fucking happy?" His anger was getting the best of him. Without thinking he snatched the remote right out of her hand and chucked it as hard as he could at the television. It hit the screen smack dab in the center, cracking it.

SMACK! SMACK SMACK SMACK! The instant that screen broke Caroline whipped her hand around and belted him several times right across the face. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she snarled. "What the hell does breaking my god damn TV do?" She smacked him one more time for good measure. The blow rocked his head to the side and he had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from making a sound. "You think I'm happy with you? Murderous little fiend."

"You told me to do it!" James could taste the blood in his mouth but he swallowed that down. "You fucking made me do that! I didn't fucking want to kill Grandma I BEGGED you not to make me do it." He swallowed down more blood and gripped his jeans with both hands. He wanted to hit her he did. He wanted to so bad he could barely keep a hold of himself.  "I did what you wanted what more do you want from me?"

“No more stupid questions would be a good start.” A slap upside the head punctuated the statement before she switched her beer to her other hand and took a long drink out of it.

“Fuck you Mom.”

"Fuck you too." She took another drink of beer, finishing the bottle off in one gulp. "Get me another." She shoved it right at him, hitting him in the chest with it.

James rolled his eyes and got up. He took the empty bottle to the kitchen and threw it away before going to the fridge. He grabbed two beers instead of one and placed a hand over the top of both of them. He gave them a good twist, removing both caps at once. He returned to the living room and kept one for himself while handing her the other one.

"Who said you could have one?" she asked.

"Me." Looking to be defiant he took a drink while looking directly into her eyes. "You're the one who shouldn't have another one."

"Don't tell me how many I should have."

"I think you're an alcoholic."

"Don't be stupid. Alcoholics go to meetings."

James could only shake his head. That was denial if he ever heard of it. There was no way anyone drank from the time they got up to the time they went to sleep without being an alcoholic. He didn't need to a be a professional to know that.

"You're fucking paying for that TV. I hope you fucking know that."

"How? I don't have money."

"Go sell yourself on your street."

James gave her an incredulous look. "Sell myself on the street?"

"Sure." She smacked the ends of his hair. "You have faggot hair anyway. Grow it a bit more and you'll be all set."

"Fuck  you my hair is not faggoty. You haven't seen faggoty until you've seen Harry Cunt--"

"WHAT?"

"Harry Cunt. Guy in my class. Carey Hunt is his name but--"

"Oh and you just think you're so god damn clever don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Well you're fucking not. How does that fucking sound?"

"YOU would call him that. Don't even lie."

"Oh shut up." She couldn’t actually deny that one. She pushed herself up off the couch and grabbed his hair, roughly yanking his head back and wrenching his neck. "Get me a new TV by tomorrow or I'm knocking your teeth down your throat." She let go of him, making sure to wrench his neck the other way as she did it. "Understand?" She hardly waited for an answer. She just started to storm off, leaving him to rub his neck gingerly.

"Love you too Mom!" James rubbed his neck more and laid down, grabbing the couch pillow to hug. He was fairly certain he heard her say to go fuck himself but since he didn't hear her for sure he pretended that she said she loved him back.


	6. Close Call

The official call about the death of Louise Lawson came at about 6:30 in the morning. Annabelle had been the one up to answer it and awkwardly had to make the announcement to the family. Caroline smirked when told, actually raising her morning glass of scotch in a toast before actually making pancakes in celebration. James kept his head down in shame but stole glances at Caroline every chance he could. The way he perked though when she put food on his plate was borderline pathetic. It was like a kicked puppy had been thrown a bone by its master though Annabelle tried to cut him some slack. It wasn’t like they ever really knew when their next meal was coming. Joseph took the news hard, as one would expect. It was his mother after all. Caroline tried to say that he was just putting on a show but Annabelle didn’t really take her seriously. She hated Joseph and demonized anything he did. Not that all of it was undeserved but Annabelle really did believe that on this day, he was being genuine.

Once Caroline left for the casino James called Mark over and Annabelle found herself watching TV with the both of them. She had taken the chair while they were on the couch, both of them stretched out as much as they possibly could without being on top of each other. James had taken control of the remote, which meant they were watching some game show that riled him up and made him yell answers at the television. Annabelle just kept shaking her head, torn between being amused and annoyed. Mark didn't hide his feelings as well, continually elbowing him in the gut before grabbing the remote and changing the channel.

"Hey!" Pouting his lips James tried his best to snatch the remote right back. "Mark what the hell?"

"If you can't shut the fuck up we're not watching that bullshit." Mark tucked the remote into the couch cushion and smacked James' hands away. "You've gotten half the damn answers wrong anyway it's not like you're any good at this guessing game."

"I was still trying to find my groove!" James leapt up out of his seat and landed _on_ Mark, locking in a headlock with one arm while he used his free hand to retrieve the remote. "Ha!" Triumphant, James jumped back over to his side and changed the channel back to his show. "I win."

"Asshole.' Mark folded his arms over his chest and slumped down. "Belle tell him he's an asshole."

"No tell Mark to get the stick out of his ass."

"I--" Annabelle wrinkled her nose as she saw James shove the remote down his pants for safe keeping.

"Lawson!" The move wasn't lost on Mark either.

"What? You thought I was just gonna leave it where you could get it?" James was way way too proud of himself. "Think again Marky Mark."

"...I think someone should go talk to Dad."

The self satisfied smirk left James' face at those words. "What?" He stared at Annabelle in disbelief. "Are you serious right now?"

"He's just taking it so hard--"

"Well no shit that was his mom." Mark was staring at her like she lost her head as well. "Don't fucking mean Lawson should go up there."

"Yeah really." James was all over Mark coming down on his side. "He hates my guts why would he want to see me?"

"Maybe if you tried not to fight with him so much--"

"Oh so it's MY fault?" James' eyes narrowed. "It's my fucking fault he's a piece of shit."

"I never said that!" Annabelle was silently cursing herself fifty ways to Sunday. She hadn't wanted to start a fight. She hated fighting with James he got so irrational. Here he was already putting words in her mouth and all she had done was made one _little_ suggestion. She hadn't been trying to get him to put in a good word for Joseph with the lawyers as nearly as hard as she should have. She hadn't known how to approach it given how volatile of feelings James had towards their father. She was hoping maybe establishing any kind of common ground could help. "I just mean..." she nervously tucked her hair behind her ears "I-I-I m-mean you guys both loved Grandma and now she's gone--"

"How did she die anyway?" Mark's question made the both of them freeze. He looked back and forth between them, frowning at the look on their faces. "Was it like a heart attack or--"

"She stopped breathing," James quickly answered.

Mark snorted. "Well no shit that's what happens when people die. I'm talking like the actual cause dude."

"She just stopped breathing." James' anger was switching to Mark. Annabelle couldn't lie she did feel a bit relieved to see that. "That's all they fucking told us. You can call them if you want a blow by blow fucking description."

"...Jesus fuck forget I fucking asked." If Mark sensed that there was more going on with James he didn't show it. Instead he stretched his legs out, resting the heels of his boots on the coffee table.

"Dude you're gonna get my ass kicked again." James kicked Mark's legs back down to the floor. "Fucking gonna scuff that god damn thing up and she'll blame me--"

"You did scuff it up last time." Despite his argument Mark did at least keep his feet down. "How the fuck though does your mom notice anything if she's so hammered all the time?"

All James and Annabelle could do was look at each other and shrug their shoulders. That was the only answer that immediately came to mind. James did open his mouth to start saying something but the sound of the phone ringing interrupted him. "You get it!" James pointed his finger at Annabelle. "If it's for me I’m not here.”

"Who even calls you?" Annabelle asked as she started to get up to her feet.

"Well Principal Stevens typically does..." James' eyebrows shot up as the phone cut off in the middle of the second ring. "Guess fatso got it."

Annabelle dropped back down in her seat and pulled her legs up with her. She fixed her pant leg before hugging her knees against her chest. "Someone should still go up there to check on him."

"Then you go do it." James reached down his pants and retrieved the remote he had stashed away. "If you feel so bad about it you go up there."

"Can you--”

"No he's not coming with you." Mark cut her off before she could even finish the question. "He's gotta come with me."

"I do?"

"He does?" Both of these questions left James and Annabelle's mouth at the same time.

"Uh yeah." Mark gave James an exasperated look. "The dance is this Friday and neither of us actually have anything we can wear."

"What's wrong with our regular clothes."

"Formal wear only Lawson. Didn't you get the memo?"

Judging by the groan that left James' mouth he did not in fact get that memo. Mark laughed at his expense before grabbing James by the arm and dragging him up with him. Annabelle watched them go, resting her chin against her knee and still jumping when they slammed the door behind them despite knowing full well they were going to do that. She turned her attention towards the TV, half watching the end of the game show that they had been watching before. Once it was over she forced herself to get up and shut the TV off, using the button on the device itself instead of using the remote. She was going to have to make sure James sanitized that thing before anyone else started using it.

Deciding to finally bite the bullet, Annabelle made her way up the stairs. She stepped softly and quietly, sneaking even though there was no actual reason to sneak at that particular moment. She went to her father's door and waited, listening to see if he was still talking on the phone. She didn't hear anything so she decided to knock softly. She waited but there wasn't any kind of response to be heard. She knocked again, a little louder this time.

"...Come in." Joseph's voice wasn't it's usual booming gruff tone she had known for the past seventeen years. In fact, she barely even heard him speak. She took a moment to run her tongue over her bottom lip and took a deep breath before entering the room. Navy blue curtains were tightly pulled over the windows, blocking out any sunlight that could have possibly come in. The only light on in the room was the bedside lamp, which barely illuminated anything. Joseph sat on the edge of his bed, the phone discarded off to his left. He gave a quick glance her way but his eyes held no real interest in her. "What?"

"I um...I just wanted to check on you." Not bothering to shut the door behind her since nobody else was home Annabelle walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. She held her hands in her lap, fingers gripping her pants as she tried to decide what to do or say next. Part of her said to hug him but they weren't exactly a touchy family. Not unless that touching involved hitting anyway. So hugging felt too awkward to do. After a long moment of hesitation she settled on reaching up and giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Who was on the phone?" He didn't seem too eager to give her a status report on his feelings so she tried a different track.

"Rick."

"Oh." Rick was her father's youngest brother and the only one who still lived in Las Vegas. He actually only lived a half a mile away with his wife and four daughters but beyond a quick pass here and there, they hadn't really had anything to do with him in twelve years. "Did you tell him--"

"Nursing home called him too. He wanted to talk funeral arrangements." Joseph wiped his eye with a single finger while draping his other arm around Annabelle. The gentle squeeze made her stiffen uncomfortably. If he noticed her reaction he chose to ignore it. "I just can't think about it right now." Sighing heavily he pulled Annabelle closer to him. His hand rested on her stomach, fingers lightly playing with her shirt. "I told him to plan it I'll cover the cost."

Annabelle just nodded along. What could she even say? She didn't know.

"Your mother can't come to the funeral." Despite actually addressing her Joseph seemed to be talking more to himself. "She'll just cause a scene the fucking bitch."

"Why don't you just divorce her?" It was a question she and James had wondered about but not one they had actually dared to verbalize before. "You hate her so much why not leave her?"

Joseph shook his head. "Divorce would make her happy. Or you know, as happy as she could ever be." He chuckled bitterly. "I can't let that happen. I won't let that happen." His playing with her shirt turned to rubbing, his hand moving up ever so slightly towards her breasts. "We don't need to talk about her anymore." His fingers began to rub left to right, his grip tightening as she tried to jerk herself away. “It means so much to me that you came in here.” He began to turn his body, his other hand coming down on to the top of her leg. “It’s been so long since a woman shown me real kindness.” His hand fully grabbed her breast now, squeezing it so hard it actually hurt. His hot, heavy breath was coming at her face now and she could smell the stale whiskey on him. “Let me show you some kindness. “ The hand not fondling her started unsnapping her jeans. “Let me show you what a real man--”

In a moment of sheer panic Annabelle reacted. Her head reared back and smashed against his face, busting his nose and nearly giving herself a concussion in the process. Little stars danced before her eyes but she forced herself to shake them off. She ripped herself out of his grasp and ran down the hall. She flew down the stairs two at the time, nearly twisting her ankle when she missed a step. She did fall but her adrenaline was pumping so hard that she popped right back up and kept running. She could hear Joseph cursing and coming after him and without daring to look back she ran out the door and headed up the block. She couldn't go to Caroline and she had no idea where James was but still she ran. Having someone to run to wasn't really the point. Running meant she didn't have to think about what just happened or what could happen to her later once she had to go home. If she could run forever or even manage to run right off the face of the planet, it would be perfectly fine with her.

 


	7. Homecoming

 “I feel like a god damn monkey…” The complaint passed through James’ lips for about the hundredth  time since he had bought the suit. Due to his height Mark had to take him to a tailor that was a friend of his dad’s to get him something special made. James didn’t think it was worth the effort. It was a school dance and whoever decided that was to be strictly formal wear was an idiot. It wasn’t even prom it was just homecoming. Yet because Matilda wanted to go so bad, Mark wouldn’t even think about getting their group to ditch so James was stuck. To add another wrinkle into the mix, Annabelle was going with them now. Mark had thrown a fit, since he and the other girls didn’t like Belle but James had kept his foot down. Too much time with Leigh was not his idea of a good time unless she was going to give him any. Annabelle would at least be as uncomfortable as he was and someone that would maybe keep him from strangling someone if shit got too annoying.

  
 “Probably look better than me,” Annabelle called out from her closet dressing space. Instead of changing in her own room she had elected to bring her dress and hide in his closet to get dressed. She had actually taken to not only doing that before school but just following him around in general. The only place he had peace was in the bathroom and even then she was right by the door waiting for him to get out. At first he had no idea what had brought it on but Joseph’s busted nose and infuriated glares soon started to paint a bit of a picture for him. He had tried confronting Annabelle about the subject but she had clammed up. Her silence though, spoke almost as loud as an actual confession did.

  
 “I think my pants are still too short.” James looked down at his legs with a frown. They looked fine but still actually felt like they didn’t fit right. “Or maybe too tight. I don’t know.”

  
 “Maybe both?”

  
 “May-fucking-be.” He sighed and grabbed his belt off his bed. "Did Dad get you a bigger purse when he took you shopping?"

  
 "N-n-no." Annabelle stepped out from the closet, her arms folded over her chest to help hold up the strapless cherry colored gown she had on. A rhinestone band separated the bodice from the skirt, which touched the floor since she had no high heels on. "Can you zip this?"

  
 "Come 'ere." James turned her around and zipped up the dress. "Why the fuck did they make this zipper so small?"

  
 "I don't know." Annabelle adjusted her top so it was showing the least amount of cleavage possible. "Thanks."

  
 "No problem." He went to go grab his jacket when she grabbed his arm to stop him. "Wh--"

  
 "Aren't you supposed to be wearing a tie?" Annabelle pointed at his collar, moving her finger up and down to where the tie should have been resting.

  
 "Oh." James winced sheepishly. "Yeah uh..." he waved a hand towards his dresser drawer "I don't know how to put it on."

  
 "Seriously?"

  
 "What do you mean seriously?" He glared at her like she was insane. "When the fuck have I ever worn a tie? Would you care to tell me at what opportunity I could have learned?"

  
 "Mark could have taught you..."

  
 James snorted. "You really think I was going to ask him?"

  
 "...Good point." Annabelle glanced back at his dresser and for moment James thought she was going to get the tie to put on him. However, she didn't know how to put one on either so that plan was let go with a sigh. "I guess forget that one."

  
 "Not like I need it that bad." James snatched his jacket and put it on before slipping on his shoes. "Come on. Mark's supposed to be picking us up in like ten minutes."

  
 "What?" Annabelle's head snapped towards the clock on his bedside table. "Shit!" A rare curse word escaped her as she realized he was right. She snatched up her shoes and held his shoulder so she could put them on without falling over. "How is he getting us? His truck can't hold everyone..."

  
 "He saved up for a limo."

  
 "Really?"

  
 James nodded. "Matilda made him do it." He didn't bother to hide the annoyance in his voice.  It was just a homecoming dance yet Matilda's need to outshine everyone had turned their arrival into a spectacle. About the only advantage was that there was actually going to be room for everyone without having to take two vehicles. Then again, being trapped in a car with her, Mark and god knew who else wasn't actually his idea of a great time either.

  
 As they left the house they ran into Joseph, who was waddling from the living room to the kitchen. Annabelle immediately froze up and dropped her gaze, her desire to die on the spot still ever so clearly written through her body language. The glare Joseph sent her way was absolutely venemous. James scowled and put himself between the two of them. "The fuck you looking at?"

  
 Joseph started to respond but he barely got the first word out before he changed his mind. Instead he grumbled something incoherent himself and stormed off. James watched him go, waiting until he disappeared before grabbing Annabelle by the arm and dragging her out of the house. James let the door slam shut behind him, not paying mind to the screech that got from Caroline. The limo was already waiting for them at the end of the driveway. The window on the top was open and Mark was standing up  and sticking out of it.

  
 "Come the fuck on!" Mark yelled. He banged both of his palms on the top of the limo three times. "Let's move it Lawson!"

  
 "Shut the fuck up!" James nearly threw Annabelle in front of him to let her go first. "Fucking christ Mark when did you decide to get your panties up in a bunch?"

  
 "Since I want to get there and get this over with!" That response clearly upset Matilda from inside the limo given by the way Mark cringed and quickly ducked back down. Annabelle got in the limo first, awkwardly sitting next to Brenda who immediately climbed on her date's lap to put space between them. James didn't know who the guy was but he did recognize David as Nina's date. David didn't exactly look thrilled to see him, a look that became more pronounced as Leigh practically attached herself to him the moment he sat down. She did look good at least, so it wasn't as if he minded. Her blonde hair was pulled up and her white, strapless dress was tight enough around her that her breasts were practically popping out. He put an arm around her, ignoring everything she was babbling on about. He oogled her quite freely, eventually silencing her by sticking his tongue down her throat.

  
 "Lawson knock it off!" Mark reached out with his leg and nailed James with a solid kick to the knee. "Nobody wants to watch that shit."

  
 "So close your eyes--OW!" That reply earned James another kick to the knee.

  
 "Where are we eating?" Nina asked.

  
 "Maggiano's Little Italy," Matilda answered. "My favorite."

  
 "What the rest of us don't get a say?" James looked away from Leigh so he could give Matilda the stink eye. "What if we don't want to eat there?"

  
 Matilda not only returned the stink eye but did so with even more intensity. "Raise your hands if you're happy about my pick."

  
 Much to James' dismay, everyone but Annabelle raised their hands--and even she almost did so before catching herself and acting like she was on his side for this.

  
 Matilda smiled smugly. "Looks like I win..."

  
 James scowled. He forced himself to not only choke back the very choice words he had for her but also the urge to slap that smile off her face. It wasn't that he actually had a problem with her choice...beyond it being her choice. He would get her though. He would make sure of that.

...

 Dinner went without too much incident. Since Mark was paying and James was pissed at him, he made sure his portion of the bill was twice as much as everyone else's. The look on Mark's face promised all kinds of death in his future but James didn't care. It felt so good to actually be full that he actually engaged in conversations with Leigh and the rest of them, forgetting that he hated them for awhile. That ended though within a half hour of being at the dance. They got themsleves a round table on the left side of the gym and sat together for a very short time. Soon though, the girls with the exception of Annabelle wanted to go dance. David, Mark and the guy James still couldn't remember the name of took their dates off, leaving James to deal with a discouraged Leigh and the ever awkwardly placed Annabelle.

  
 "Why don't you want to dance?" Leigh practically whined as she tapped her foot, her shoe making an irritating tapping noise against the tiled floor.

  
 "Because," James replied.

  
 "Because why?"

  
 "Because do I look like a mother fucker that dances?" James scanned the gym, pointing out to Mark's horribly awkward attempts at dancing. "Look at that." He jabbed his finger into the air until Leigh actually looked. "He's embarassing himself and her. Do you realy feel like letting me make a laughing stock out of both of us?" There was more than a little exaggeration with his claim. James supposed he could dance if he really wanted to--but tonight was not that night.

  
 Leigh did cringe as they watched actually step on Matilda's foot. "Well I'm not just going to sit here." She whipped her head back towards him, a sneer forming on her lips. "So what will you do?"  
 James smirked. "Come on." He pushed himself up out of the chair and held his hand out for her. "I'll show you."

  
 She pouted and acted like she wasn't going to come along at first but with a sigh she relented. He led her through the gym over to the girl's locker room, which was the one actually inside the gymnasium (the boy's one was in the seperate building that housed the band and orchestra rooms). James flipped the lights on and locked the door. A quick look around told him that the coast was clear. "Come here..."

  
 Leigh folded her arms over her chest. “What kind of girl do you think I am?”

  
  _A sidekick with no self respect_ …James barely stopped himself from saying that thought out loud. Instead he closed the distance between them and kissed her. For a split second she acted like she was going to push him away but then gave in. He picked her up and pinned her against the wall, hiking up her dress as her hands worked on his pants. His mind went on auto pilot as he thrusted up into her. There were so many girls he had messed around with in this locker room he couldn’t even remember them all. Hell, maybe he had even brought her in there before. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. He finished inside her, barely registering the fact that he had neglected to put a condom on. She didn’t say anything on the matter. Instead she just silently unwrapped her legs from around him and fixed her dress. He fixed his own clothes before pulling out a pack of cigarettes. He offered her one but she just waved him off. Instead she just left him there, venturing out to the dance on her own. He waited until the door shut behind her before flopping down on the bench and enjoying his smoke in peace.

...

 “I don’t think we should go home.” An hour later as the dance went on, James and Annabelle slipped out and found themselves wandering aimlessly around the city. She had taken her heels off, walking only in panty hose covered feet. James had accidentally left his jacket hanging on the back of a chair at the school but didn’t feel like bothering to go back and get it. He had unbuttoned his dress shirt since he had put on a tank top to go underneath everything. He was the one who had made the statement, startling Annabelle out of her quest to kick a pebble along the park trail they were walking on.

  
 “Where would we go?” she asked. She kicked the pebble again without looking and she accidentally sent it flying out on to the grass. 

  
 James shrugged. "I don't know." He shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced up at the sky. "If you could fly anywhere where would you go?"

  
 Annabelle bit her lower lip as she thought about it. "Paris."

  
 James' eyebrows shot up. "Paris?"

  
 "Mhm."

  
 "Why there?"

  
 "It's a beautiful city."

  
 "So say the fags--"

  
 "James!" Eyes widening and jaw dropping, Annabelle smacked his arm hard. "Don't say that!"

  
 "Seriously?"

  
 "It's offensive."

  
 "Well fucking hell Belle..." James did have to take a moment to admire the unintentional rhyme he made. "Who the hell am I offending so badly?"

  
 "Me." She wrapped her arms around herself since she had no pockets to shove her hands in. "That word is gross."

  
 "You're gross." That was all he could come up with. Such an immature response but he was comitted to it.

  
 Annabelle rolled her eyes. "Well where would you go?"

  
 "I don't know. Maybe like Los Angeles or New York--"

  
 "Why there?"

  
 "I don't know. Doesn't everyone always run away to those places?"

  
 "I guess so. Kind of bad to stick with a cliche though isn't it?"

  
 "Paris is just as cliche as my answers." Originality wasn't to be found between the two of them in this case. He went to say as much when the sound of squealing tires stopped him. From the street a dark red car jumped the sidewalk and came straight into the park, cutting them off from the front. Annabelle screamed and jumped behind James for protection. Meanwhile, James could only curse silently as Gino and four of his pals got out of the car. It wasn't exactly a surprising sight given the way their last meeting had went. Two of the thugs were armed with baseball bats while the third had a pair of brass knuckles on and the fourth had a chain wrapped around his fist. Gino himself didn't have a weapon in his hands but strapped to his side was a gun. James eyed it for a split second before looking back up, his expression neutral beyond the slight hint of annoyance. "Hey Gino." Faux friendly was the tone he set. "What's shaking?"

  
 "James what are you doing?" As calm as James appeared, that was how panicked Annabelle was. She grabbed his arm with both hands, her nails digging into his skin through his shirt. She yanked on the limb as hard as she could, trying to force him to start running. He pushed her off, trying to communicate to her to just go and run herself. She needed to go, get a head start while he kept the gang on him instead. What Gino wanted was his head on a stick for sure but he could all too well imagine what the other boys would do to Annabelle if they got a chance.

  
 Annabelle tried to hold on to him but he just shoved her again. She fell to the ground, scraping her left palm against a twig as she caught herself. A slew of Spanish was being yelled at him, mostly by Gino himself. The other four surrounded him, closing him into a circle with Annabelle just on the outside of it. James could only hope she at least got struck with the sensibility to run. It was too late for him. Knowing how this would end, James didn't wait to get hit first. His ever trusty knight emerged from his pocket and he threw it blindly, not watching as the blade buried itself into Gino's leg. The first baseball bat armed man ran for him and James kicked his leg up, catching the heavily tattooed thug right in the groin. He snatched the baseball bat from the guy as he went down. One swift motion turned him around and he cracked the secong guy with a bat right across the side of the head.

  
 "JAMES!" Annabelle's scream barely registered in James' head with all the chaos. The other two men jumped on James from behind, the chain wrapped fist of one catching him upside the head. He fell to his knees, his vision blurring from the blow. Fists and feet rained down on him, viciously trying to beat him into submission. His vision cleared enough to see Annabelle finally running and he could hear her screaming for someone to help. The other two didn't even acknowledge her going and Gino was too busy ripping the knife out of his leg to realize what she was doing.

  
 Roaring in pain as a blow caught him in the back of his neck, James started throwing fists and elbows wildly. He felt blood rushing down the side of his face but didn't feel the pain of the cut. He couldn't swing the bat he had gotten. They were practically on top of him there was no way he could be effective with it. So it laid harmlessly on the ground beside him as he tried to fight his way back up to his feet. He briefly succeeded but unbeknownst to him, as he was busy swinging at the two guys attacking him, the first guy with the baseball bat had recovered from the kick to the nuts he had receieved. And with no Annabelle to scream a warning, he was clueless until the bat was hitting him on the knee.

  
 "Hold him!" Gino barked as he toppled to the ground. "Hold that mother fucker!"

  
 Three pairs of hands grabbed him, holding him down on his knees as Gino limped forward. James tried to shake them off but the mind numbing pain in his knee hindered his fight. Gino was cocky now. He stepped up to James with a swagger, the gun held tightly in his hand. "That's right mother fucker." Gino flipped the gun around and held it high. "Do you think you can fuck with me mother fucker? Huh?" He whipped James right across the face with the butt end of the gun. "Do you think you can fuck with me?!" He brought his hand back so the gun could strike James on the other side. "You think you're tough mother fucker? You don't look so tough to me."

  
 "Five on one--" James stopped to cough and as he tried to wheeze for breath he spat on Gino's shoes "don't make you tough either." He tilted his head back, his vision blurred from one eye swelling shut and blood dripping into the other. Gino's face was twisted into a scowl and the barrel of the gun was pointed right between James' eyes. "Do it."

  
 Gino already had his finger on the trigger but the words made him falter. "The fuck you just say?"

  
 "Do it." James ripped one arm free and grabbed Gino by the wrist. He pulled his arm forward, making sure the barrel of the gun was pressed directly on his forehead. "Come on now. Just do it."

  
 "What the fuck is this crazy mother fucker doing?" The thug with the chain asked. His grip on James' other arm loosened and he made no attempt to reclaim it as James grabbed the barrel of the gun.

  
 "Come on Gino." James pressed the gun so hard into his own forehead it was leaving a mark. "Come on I know you want to do it." He nodded and licked his lip. The coppery taste of his own blood filled his mouth.

  
 "I'll do it," Gino threatened. Gino still had his finger over the trigger yet he wasn't making any move to actually pull it. "I'll do it mother fucker I'll fucking do it!"

  
 "So do it." James had everyone just looking at him. He could have grabbed the gun to make an attempt to shoot at least one of them but he didn't. He wanted to see what Gino to do. In his gut he didn't think the weasel would do it. Not now that he was actually asking for it. He had wanted to hear James beg for his life, not to have it asked to be taken away. He wasn't like his brother Hector who had a more indifferent approach to things. Gino needed the gratification with it. He needed James to beg and plead so he could feel like the man that he wasn't.

  
 “Gino come the fuck on.” The guy with the brass knuckles was getting annoyed. “Just fucking do it already.”

  
 “Shut the fuck up already!” Gino still yanked the gun out of James’ grip and took a step back. “I’m gonna do it I--”

  
 Police sirens wailed loudly from the distance. A whole string of curses left the gang’s mouth as two police cars whipped around the corner. James never seen such self  professed tough guys run for their car faster than they did. He forced himself to stay on his feet until the beat up car screeched away to safety. Once it was out of sight he let himself fall to his knees, further hurting the knee that had been struck.

  
 “James! JAMES!”

  
 Annabelle’s cries were faint to his ears at best. James felt his whole word spinning. He tried to get back up but he merely crumbled back down. Blood dripped faster down into his eyes, making it impossible to see. A sharp pain shot through his knee as he tried to crawl away. He didn’t want the cops to help him but he couldn’t avoid it. He felt his lips move but he couldn’t understand the very words leaving his mouth. He managed to wave his hand out wildly before flopping stomach first on to the ground. He was going to get Gino for this. He was going to get him even if it was the last thing he ever did


	8. The Hospital

 "Mr. and Mrs. Lawson, we do want to assure you that we're doing everything we can to find the boys that did this to your son." Detective Slater's words were meant to comfort all involved yet Annabelle knew they were falling flat. She was in James' hospital room alongside Joseph, Caroline, Mark and Matilda. James himself was laying heavily sedated in the bed in the middle of the room. The doctors hadn't wanted to do it but he had kept trying to fight them off when they tried to attend to his injuries. A concussion, broken ribs, a gash that had needed fifteen stitches to close, black eye, dislocated jaw...he had come off on a nasty end of the stick. He had managed to fuck up one of the attackers. Miguel, who according to Mark was Gino's cousin, was in critical condition after taking a baseball bat to his skull. The rest though had gotten away. Annabelle hadn't allowed herself to think about how scary that knowledge was. Instead she had tried to brace herself for the cops calling their parents in while trying to hunt down Mark. She actually blamed him for what happened. He was the one getting in over his head with the likes of Gino. James would have never crossed paths with the guy and got on his bad side if not for Mark. She didn't have the courage to verbalize that though.

  
 "This is outrageous." Joseph had chosen to put on the concerned father mask, which was clearly disgusting Caroline. "Look at my boy!" He waved a meaty hand back at James. "He could have been killed right out in the open! Don't you people have patrol cars that sweep the damn city?"

  
 "We always have people on duty but we can't be expected to catch everything."

  
 "Well then maybe you need to get more people then." Joseph pointed his finger into Slater's chest. "Or maybe more competent ones."

  
 Slater's brown eyes narrowed and his square jaw shifted as he grinded his teeth. He was clearly offended by Joseph's comments but he was trying not to display it. "Do you have any idea why these people may have attacked your son?"

  
 "How should we know?" Caroline was seated in the corner, her left ankle resting up on her right knee. She had her trusty vodka filled water bottle sitting on the floor by her chair. "Didn't you question her?" She looked over at Annabelle. "She was the one who saw these guys."

  
 "I already told them everything I know," Annabelle said quickly. She saw the glare Mark shot her. He was taking that as she told them about his connection to Gino even though she hadn't. She had only said that Gino and James hated each other and James had embarrassed him by punking him out awhile back. She hadn't wanted to protect Mark but she knew James would be pissed if she didn't.

  
 "What about you Mark?" The glare he had shot Annabelle had not gone lost on Caroline.

  
 Mark blinked at the question. "What about me?"

  
 "What do you know about James and the spics?"

  
 "Nothing. Why would I know anything about that?"

  
 "Well uh--" Caroline raised her eyebrows "you're his best friend. All you do beyond fuck Malibu Barbie over there is stay up his ass."

  
 "Son if you know something its best you speak up." Detective Slater was now jumping in on Mark's case. "Anything helps."

  
 Mark looked at Matilda who nodded at him. Annabelle didn't know if she knew about Mark's dealings with Gino and his crew. She suspected not but she couldn't be sure. "Gino hates James. James hates Gino. Gino has a gang and they got the best of him."

  
 "And that's it?" Slater pressed.

  
 "Yeah." Mark nodded. "That's it."

  
 "Alright." Slater looked a bit skeptical but there was really nothing for him to keep pressing with. "I'll be back in the morning to check in with you folks."

  
 "I'll walk you to the car," Joseph volunteered. "I think I need some air."

  
 "You just want to see if the pig keeps donuts around..."

  
 Annabelle slapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from giggling. She watched Joseph and Slater go out the door. Caroline herself got up and shut the door behind them and locking it for good measure. "Mom?"

  
 "What exactly didn't you tell him?" Her voice was even colder than usual. She locked her eyes on to Annabelle's. "What did the idiot do to cause this?"

  
 "Tried to get Mark a bigger cut in pay. He's dealing drugs for Gino and his brother."

  
 "Belle!" Mark's entire face turned red.

  
 "Mark!" Matilda's jaw dropped. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

  
 "I can ex--AGH!"

  
 "Mom!" Much to Annabelle's shock, Caroline stormed over to Mark and started repeatedly striking him across the face.

  
 "Oh my god what are you doing you psycho?!" Matilda tried to pull her off but only got shoved violently down to the floor.

  
 "Mom!" Annabelle had no idea what had brought this on. A deep rooted maternal instinct kicking in? Anger over being called into the hospital? It was hard to tell. Annabelle did want to believe the former. She knew better but she wanted to believe it.

  
 "Stupid stupid stupid FUCK!" Every time Mark tried to get his hands up or push her away she just ripped them down and attacked even more ferociously. "How the fuck can you be so stupid?" She grabbed Mark's wrists and slammed them against the arms of his chair. "Look at what you fucking dragged him into!"

  
 "What do you care?" Mark spat back. "You fucking have nearly KILLED him before! Where do you think you get to act all concerned?

  
 "I spawned him I get to do whatever the fuck I want to him," she snarled. "I'm not the one getting him wrapped up in a bunch of spic business."

  
 "He stuck his nose in--"

  
 "Shut up!" Caroline wasn't hearing anything he had to say. "Shut up and get out. I want you out of my sight."

  
 The glare Mark gave her was murderous though nearly not as much as the one she gave him in return. He had no choice but to back "

  
 "Shut up." Caroline turned on her heels and walked back over to her chair. Annabelle thought she was going to just sit back down but instead she grabbed it and dragged it closer to James' bed. She plopped down right there much to Annabelle's shock. "If you heard that don't you fucking take that the wrong way." She grabbed James' wrist and twisted it. He was so heavily sedated that he didn't even flinch in his sleep. "I know they say you can fucking hear me--"

  
 "He's not in a coma Momma." Annabelle almost smiled at her misunderstanding. "He's drugged up he can't--"

  
 "Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Caroline didn't even look back at her as she snapped.

  
 Annabelle pressed her lips together tightly.

  
 "If you heard a fucking word of that don't you be taking it the wrong way." Caroline twisted James' wrist still, unable to do more damage until after he was out of the hospital. "I didn't fucking yell at him for you. He's a fucking idiot but you are just as big of a one as he is." Scowling she tossed his arm over his lap. "How did I ever raise such a stupid child?" Thin lips curled in disgust. "It's your father's fault. I was never this stupid." She gripped the bars on the bed in lieu of slapping him. "You know what? I hope you never wake up. I hope those drugs do what I should have done a long time ago."

  
 "Mom stop it." Annabelle forced herself to find her voice once more. James thankfully couldn't hear her talking like that again but it didn't mean that she wanted to.

  
 "Why?"

  
 "Because that's mean."

  
 Caroline froze, almost perplexed by that response. She turned back to look at Annabelle and they stared at each other for the longest of moments. Annabelle held her breath, expecting to get hit. Caroline did start to raise her hand only to lower it back down slowly. "Mean?" she repeated with a humorless laugh. "That's your great argument? Telling me I'm mean?"

  
 "What did he ever do to you Momma?" Annabelle just had to ask. "He loves you so much and you just SHIT all over him all the time."

  
 "You know why don't be stupid."

  
 Annabelle dropped her eyes down to the floor. She knew why to a certain degree. Caroline was naturally hateful and she and her brothers had been results of rape. But what had caused the natural hatefulness inside her? Was it nature or had it been nurture? Neither Annabelle or James had known Caroline's side of the family. Most still lived in Kentucky where she had been born. Her parents had moved her immediate family to Las Vegas when she had been fourteen that much was known. Annabelle also knew her grandparents had died when Jacob had only been two and their aunts had moved away not long after. There was no telling though if that family life had warped Caroline's head. Maybe she had been abused. Maybe she had been turned into the monster she was or maybe she had just always been that way. The only thing that was certain was the fact that she kept the secret deeply locked inside of her.

  
 Annabelle's silence satisfied Caroline. She sat back down and kept a watchful eye on James. She was just waiting to pounce once he woke up. Annabelle twisted her hands together and bit down on her lower lip. With the way things were looking James was better off staying unconcious for as long as he possibly could.


	9. The Best Laid Plans

 James wasn’t released from the hospital until three days after the attack. It was three of the longest days of James' life. Being confined in any capacity was bad enough but being confined after what happened felt even worse. He was both angry and embarrassed about what had happened. They had jumped him he had been in a no win situation. Annabelle and the doctors had constantly reminded him how lucky he had been not to be hurt worse than he was. Caroline of course had countered that by reminding him how bad of an ass kicking he had taken and she had made sure to give him a whooping when he came home, claiming he was an embarassment and had cost them a small fortune in medical bills. That had only served to fuel his anger.  Chicken shit Gino had done this to him and now he was going to pay. He had to make sure of that.

  
 "Just tell me where the fucker is going to be tonight." James was starting to get angry with every time he had to repeat the demand. He was on the phone with Mark, his bedroom door locked so nobody could just barge in on him. He had brought up an ice pack for his recently busted open lip but it was laying unused on his bed. He paced back and forth between the door and the bed, clenching and unclenching his free hand. "I know you know where he'll be."

  
 "Bullshit Lawson." Mark sounded equally irritated on the other end. "I don't fucking know where he's going to be. I'm not his keeper."

  
 "You know where he could be though."

  
 "Maybe but--"

  
 "So tell me."

  
 Mark sighed. "Lawson come on. Just let it go."

  
 "Let it go?" If Mark had been in front of him he would have punched him right in the face. "Are you fucking shitting me? He fucking ATTACKED me with some bitch ass friends of his and you're telling me to let it go?"

  
 "Dude you bitched him out to begin with." Now Mark was playing devil's advocate. He was supposed to be his friend yet he was trying to justify what had been done to him. Bastard was definitely getting punched in the face the next time he saw him. "What did you expect to happen? You're lucky he didn't kill you."

  
 James laughed. "Lucky? I fucking told him to kill me and he--"

  
 "You WHAT?" Mark shouted so loud that James nearly threw the phone down to get it away from his ears. "What the fuck Lawson?!"

  
 "Well obviously he didn't do it." This was why James hadn't told anyone that detail until now. He hadn't wanted to be yelled at for it. "He's a fucking chicken shit. It was five on fucking one that's not going to happen again."

  
 "Fucking shit Lawson." James knew Mark was shaking his head. "Dude if you keep fucking with Gino then Hector is the one that's going to be on your ass. And he won't fucking chicken out like Gino."

  
 James knew he was right but he was way too angry to care. "I'm going after him whether you help me or not. It'll just take longer if you don't."

  
 "Oh fucking hell..."

  
 James stayed silent, waiting to see if Mark would give in. He really did need his help, more so that he was willing to admit. He needed to know exactly where Gino was going to be so he could just act. He didn't want to mess around with having to hunt Gino down. The more he hunted, the more likely it was someone would give him the heads up.

  
 "Let me make some calls." Mark was either caving or looking to stall any more violence. James wasn't sure which yet. "I'll see if I can track down where he's going to be tonight."

  
 "Call me as soon as you know." James ended the conversation there. He did hope that Mark was actually going to choose to help him. Tweleve years of frienship had to override whatever sense of employee loyalty Mark had to Gino and Hector. Especially after what happened to him. Mark had to stand by him. He just had to.

  
 James sighed and sat down on his bed. He had no idea how long Mark would take to get back to him. He had to try to come up with some sort of solid plan of attack for when he could get. It would have to depend on where he could get him. If he could get him somewhere alone he could do something a bit slower and more personal. If he had others to deal with then he would have to figure out something to take care of them too. A gun. He would need a gun. Something he didn't have. Joseph or Caroline possibly had one. It was doubtful given the fact that they hadn't ever pulled one out on each other. Still he supposed he could look.

  
 Joseph's room was the first place he checked. The oaf wasn't home and James felt like he was the one who was more likely to have the gun. He tore the whole room apart, searching every possible nook and crany but there was nothing. Not a gun anyway. He did find a collection of women's panties that made him vacate the room as fast as he possibly could. He didn't even bother putting back the stuff that he had moved around. He was too grossed out to stay in there longer than he had to.

  
 "Shit..." James cringed as he stood in the hallway. That left Caroline's room to search. He wasn't allowed in there. He wasn't supposed to go in either of his parents room but he actually took the rule with Caroline's room seriously. Any time she had caught him in there she freaked out on him. The last time she had chased him not only out of the room but out of the house and down the block, creating a huge scene as she tried to whack him in the head with gold club. He didn't know why she had one of those she didn't golf. He just knew it was there. It was in the corner, the handle leaning again the mahogony dresser. The dresser was the only real piece of furniture she had in there besides her bed.  Beyond from that, empty bottles of liquor served as her decoration. At least they had the last time he had been in there. Whenever he happened to be around when she opened the door the scene of stale booze assaulted his nostrils so he was sure that she still kept plenty of bottles in there.

  
 "What the fuck are you doing?" Speak of the devil. James had gotten lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't realized he had been just standing in the hallway not doing anything. Caroline was standing at the top of the staircase, looking at him like he was insane.

  
 "Nothing." He gave her the most innocent look he could muster. "I'm doing nothing can't you see that?"

  
 "Don't be a smartass." Caroline closed the distance between them and slapped him upside his head. "What the fuck are you up to?"

  
 "Nothing," he repeated. "Why do I always have to be up to something? You sound paranoid."

  
 "I do not. I was just hoping you were going to stop being a lazy little shit." She slapped her open palm against his chest. "All you've been doing is laying around--"

  
 "I was in the hospital Mom!" James gave her an incredulous look. "I had to rest they fucking made me--"

  
 "Whatever." Caroline waved off his reminder with a single hand. "Forget it. Just tell me you're going to get the fucking spics that did this to you."

  
 "Well yeah. I just have to track them down first."

  
 "Well you're not going to do that by just standing here."

  
 "Mark's supposed to call me when he finds out where they're going to be."

  
 Carolined snorted. "Right. Like dear old Marky is ever reliable."

  
 "He's come through for me plenty." James was at least being somewhat truthful. The word plenty was a bit of an exaggeration but not quite a lie.

  
 "Riiiight..." Caroline's voice oozed with sarcasm. "Sure. Whatever you say."

  
 "He has!" James knew his words were falling on deaf ears. "I'll get them back alright? Then you can stop saying I embarass you."

  
 "Oh you'll still be an embarassment." She jumped right at the chance to put him down. She was so quick on it that he regretted even saying anything ever at all.

  
 "Then why the fuck should I even bother doing anything at all?" he snapped. He didn't care if he got hit for this outburst. He was hurt and tired and not in the mood to just take her shit today. "If I'm such a major embarassment why don't I just let the mother fucker be? I won't make you happy either way--"

  
 "You don't get him then you can just get out," Caroline snarled. She got right in his face and he had to fight to not take a step back. "I spent three fucking days having to watch over your sorry ass because you had to go get yourself into a mess. Three fucking days having to pretend to be concerned--"

  
 "Why did you even bother pretending?" James not only forced himself to stand his ground but he brought his face so close to hers they were practically touching. "You don't any other fucking time. Why did you do it this time?"

  
 "That fucking cop was floating around," she replied. "Last thing I needed was him questioning my parenting skills."

  
 "What parenting skills?"

  
 BAM! Caroline smashed her forehead right between James' eyes. Stars danced before his eyes and James could do nothing to stop himself from being shoved against the wall. One of her body hands wrapped around his throat while the other closed around his nose and mouth. Her grip was so tight he couldn't even breathe. He tried to shove her off but she wouldn't budge. "Do you want to say that again?"

  
 James couldn't respond. His head was starting to spin from the lack of oxygen. His hands grabbed her wrists and he squezed them hard, trying to force her to let him go. He could hit her he needed to do it. Hit her and then run to his room. He could hit her hard enough to stun her enough to get away...but he didn't. Instead he kept up his futile attempts to undo her grasp until his face turned blue and his hands dropped down to her sides. His eyes started to roll into the back of his head and that was when she finally let gasped for breath, the rush of oxygen entering his lungs feeling so good that it made him dizzy. His hand flew up to his throat as he fell down to his knees. His vision blurred and he barely felt the wad of spit that landed on his forehead. He kept gasping for breath, letting himself lay down on the ground and curl up in the fetal position.

  
 "Pathetic." Caroline delivered a swift kick to his back that made him forget all about his burning lungs. She spat on him again before walking away, leaving him alone to pick himself up off the ground. He wiped away the spittle and took more deep breaths, searching for composure he didn't really have. He swallowed hard and went back to his room. He locked the door behind him before sliding back down to the floor. He was already trying to force himself to forget what just happened. He still had to figure out a plan of attack for Gino and potentially his whole crew. There was not going to be a gun. Unless Mark  could find him one there was no way he could get his hands on one. He needed to think of something more creative.

  
 The phone rang and he practically leapt across the room to reclaim it. "Mark?" He was assuming it was him. He hoped it was him he was planning to just hang up if it wasn't.

  
 "He's supposed to be at Rico's house tonight." Mark's response was gruff and irritated. "At least that's what I've heard."

  
 "Who the fuck is Rico?"

  
 "His ex-girlfriend's brother. They stayed cool even after he got caught fucking around on her."

  
 "Lovely. Now where can I FIND Rico?"

  
 "He lives in a shit hole down by the old drive in."

  
 "Will you take me?"

  
 There was a long pause after James asked that. "Lawson..."

  
 "Are you my fucking friend or not?" James didn't want to hear any sort of excuse Mark could think to offer. He needed his help and with the mood he was in now he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

  
 Mark sighed. "I'll get you there, alright?"

  
 "Good."

  
 "Can I at least ask you something though?"

  
 "Technically--"

  
 "Shut up Lawson I'm being serious here."

  
 "What then?" James rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm listening."

  
 "How exactly do you even think you're going to do here? I mean it's not like you can just blow them up to smithereens--"

  
 James's eyes widened. The words just Mark just uttered were like a light switch going on inside his brain. The answer to the question was so simple he was mad he hadn't thought of it sooner.

  
 "Lawson? Lawson are you even listening to me?"

  
 "What do you know about molotov cocktails?"

  
 "...Oh sweet baby jesus..."

  
 "Come get me Mark. We've got work to do."


	10. Scarred

BANG BANG BANG! "ANNABELLE! ANNABELLE YOU OPEN THIS DOOR!"

"WOULD YOU KNOCK THAT SHIT OFF?"

"SHUT UP YOU HAG!" BANG BANG BANG! "ANNABELLE OPEN THE DOOR!"

Annabelle cringed. She had locked herself in her room the moment she had discovered James wasn't home anymore. For nearly an hour she had managed to go unnoticed. She had hoped that been a good sign but now that had come crashing down aside her. She wasn't sure why Joseph was yelling at her and she didn't want to find out.

"ANNABELLE OPEN THE GOD DAMN DOOR!" Joseph pounded on the door even harder. "DO YOU THINK I'M KIDDING AROUND?"

"Leave me alone!" She was sitting on the bed, knees pulled up to her chest and eyes locked on to the door. Every time he pounded on the door it would rattle so violently that she thought it would come straight off its hinges.

"ANNABELLE!"

"Go away!" Annabelle started looking back and forth between the door and her window. She didn't know whether she should try to block the door so he couldn't get in even if the door flew open or just climb out the window and make a run for it. she had nowhere to run though...and if she got caught coming back she'd be in even bigger trouble than she was in now. She was screwed either way.

The pounding on the door suddenly stopped. Annabelle held her breath, praying to every god she could think of that he had decided to leave her alone. But just as she was about to let out the sigh of relief, he hit the door even harder than ever. It flew straight open, the handle actually putting a hole in her wall. She screamed and fell right off the bed. Her wrist went underneath her and bent backwards as she landed directly on it. The pain that shot up her entire arm brought tears to her eyes. The pain was so intense she didn’t realize Joseph was storming towards her until he grabbed her by the roots of her hair and lifted her up. She screamed as he slammed her back first against the wall.

"Where did your fucking brother take my car?" He wrapped a hand around her throat and gave it a hard squeeze. "Where did he take my FUCKING car? I know you know!" His face was turning bright red and with every word a large amount of spit flew past his lips and landed on her face.

Annabelle's mouth dropped open but his grip was too tight to allow her to answer. She grabbed his hand and dug her nails into his flesh, trying desperately to make him loosen up. She really didn't know where James had gone. She couldn't even begin to offer a solid clue. She moved her lips to try to offer her own defense but his grip was still too strong. The air couldn't reach her lungs so she couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. Her vision was starting to blur. He was killing her. He was going to kill her right then and there. His beady eyes and booze filled breath were the last things she would ever know. The realization gave her a boost of desperation fuled adrenaline and she raked his eyes as hard as she possibly could.

"FUCK!" Joseph released a bellow and thrashed her to the ground violently. The fall stunned her but she shook it off as fast as she could. Her throat and lungs throbbed violently but she ignored that in the effort to scramble to her feet and run out the door. She didn't make it far. He recovered the the rake to the eyes and grabbed a handful of her hair. "BITCH!" He threw her against the wall as hard as he could, punching her square in her lower back at the same time. The one two blow left her seeing stars. She fell to the floor in a heap, not able to move or even see straight. The pain in her head and back made her not only pass out but then wake right back up again.

"You god damn little bitch." Joseph rubbed his eye furiously. "You think you're fucking funny?" He was drunk out of his mind so his words were slurring so badly that she could even hear it through the ringing in her ears. "You're just like your brother. Little bitch." He bent down and grabbed her by the hair once more. "Teach you a lesson. Fucking little bitch."

Annabelle whimpered as she found herself being yanked up by the collar of her shirt. Her head lolled back and her world spun as she was literally tossed back on to her own bed. She was too dazed to try to roll off the other side and make another run for it. Instead she just laid there, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to pretend she had passed out. Joseph went silent and Annabelle stayed as still and quiet as possible. Her heart was pounding and she had a hard time keeping her breathing steady. She needed him to be fooled and think she was unconscious. Maybe he would leave her alone. Maybe he would think she was uninteresting and go downstairs to fight with Caroline.

The floor creaked as he stepped closer to the bed. Annabelle tried to keep her eyes shut but when a large hand closed in around her breast her heart leapt up into her throat. "No!" The pounding in her head and back cleared as she tried to jump out of the bed.

"Yes." Joseph grabbed her by the waist and threw her back down on the bed. He quickly climbed on to the bed with her, straddling her legs and waist to keep her from getting up again. "About time I get some respect" He grabbed her wrists with one hand and used the other to rip her alarm clock off from her bedside desk. "About time I get some love in my own house." His determination had made his words clearer but his eyes had taken on a wide, crazed look. He used the cord of the alarm clock to tie her hands together, smacking her across the face repeatedly when she tried to fight. He hooked the cord to the headboard to ensure that she couldn't smack him in the face with the clock itself.

"MOM!" Annabelle shook her head and tried to pull her hands free. The cord was tight against her skin, leaving it impossible to slide her hands free. "MOM!"

"Shut up!” Another slap met her face, busting open her lip. He grabbed her shirt and ripped it open. Her bra was quick to follow. The air was cool to her heated, flushed flesh. He laid down on her, setting himself between her legs while his mouth closed around her right breast. He gnawed and sucked on it roughly. His hand closed around her other breast, twisting and squeezing it until she cried. He tried ripping off her pants with just one hand but he fumbled. He cursed and used both hands, throwing her pants to the floor while taking her panties and shoving them into her mouth to muffle her cries. This couldn't be happening. She shook her head and tried to spit her underwear out so she could scream for help again. Her only hope was Caroline coming in and stopping him. She needed Caroline she needed her mother more than she ever needed her before in her life.

Joseph unzipped his pants and Annabelle squeezed her eyes shut before she could see his penis. She tried to move her legs to kick him away but it was all in vain. He entered her without warning, ripping and tearing and making her bleed. With one swoop her virginity was gone. She screamed so loud that she was barely muffled by the underwear in her mouth. Her body went still on her, too shocked to fight. His full weight was on her, his sheer body weight putting more power behind every thrust. She kept her eyes tightly shut but the tears slipped out anyway. It felt like he was on her for an eternity. She tried to convince herself that it wasn't really happening. It couldn't be happening. Even as she bled ad felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside it couldn't be happening.

With a groan he slammed into her one last time, spilling his seed inside of her and leaving it mixed with her blood. Without looking at her he untied her hands and then just left, not even shutting the door behind him as he left. She just laid there, her mind and body in shock over what just happened. She didn't know what to do. How could she tell...no she couldn't tell could she? Her own father had raped her. It was disgusting. She was disgusting.

She slowly made herself sit up. It hurt to even move. Her stomach churned and she tried to get up and run to the bathroom. Her legs refused to work properly and instead she had to lean over the side of her bed and just throw up right then and there. When she was done she slowly sat back up. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked towards the door. Caroline was standing there, staring at her with an unreadable expression on her face. "Mommy!" Annabelle reached out to her, tears streaming down her face. "Mommy please--"

"Clean yourself up." That was all Caroline had to say to her. That was all she really needed to say. The look of disgust in her eyes told the rest of the story. Annabelle watched her walk away and once the door closed behind her she buried her face against her bed sheet and sobbed until she mercifully passed out.


End file.
